Tilt - Immagini Per Un Orecchio

Hailing from Torino, Arti e Mestieri ("Art and Crafts") combined the talents of keyboardist Beppe Crovella and drummer Furio Chirico. The latter had spent time in The Trip, an odd Anglo-Italian group that once featured Ritchie Blackmore. The rest of the bandmates had previously played in a local Turin group, Il Sogno di Archimede, and included guitarist (and main composer) Gigi Venegoni, bassist Marco Gallesi, violinist and vocalist Giovanni Vigliar and Arturo Vitale on wind instruments and vibes. Following their live debut, the band signed with the Cramps label and entered the studio, with Area's Paolo Tofani producing. Tilt - Immagini Per Un Orecchio combines the soaring unison lines from fusion, the intensity of prog rock and a palette straight from the analog era. "Gravità 9.81" opens, propelled by Chirico's fervent drumming. The music is both light and complex, structured and yet never strict. "Strips" continues, adding a gentle, Italian vocal section, while "Corrosione" offers a majestic melody. The band make great use of space, with each ensuing composition flowing effortlessly into the next. Everything "joins" together for the 13-minute "Articolazioni," including some nice King-Crimson inspired passages; while "Tilt" is exactly that; everything turned sideways. The band supported the excellent album by touring, opening for PFM and Gentle Giant. Released in 1975, their second album, Giro di valzer per domani, added a new vocalist, Gianfranco Gaza, and is another solid effort. However, the band then splintered, with Venegoni going on to form his own group, Venegoni & Co, also signed to the Cramps label. By the time that their final effort, Quinto Stato, was released in 1979, the band was a different musical beast altogether, with Chirico and Gallesi being the only members from the original lineup. The early 1980s saw a few live-in-the-studio albums, but they were only distributed privately.