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Heldon was a French
electronic rock Electronic rock (also known as electro rock and synth rock) is a music genre that involves a combination of rock music and electronic music, featuring instruments typically found within both genres. It originates from the late 1960s when rock b ...
band originally active between 1974 and 1978, and led by guitarist Richard Pinhas. Other members included
synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...
player Patrick Gauthier and drummer François Auger. The name of the band was taken from the 1972 novel '' The Iron Dream'' by
Norman Spinrad Norman Richard Spinrad (born September 15, 1940) is an American science fiction author, essayist, and critic. His fiction has won the Prix Apollo Award, Prix Apollo and been nominated for numerous awards, including the Hugo Award and multiple N ...
. Influenced by the work of
Robert Fripp Robert Fripp (born 16 May 1946) is an English musician, composer, record producer, and author, best known as the guitarist, founder and longest-lasting member of the progressive rock band King Crimson. He has worked extensively as a session mu ...
(and sometimes evoking
his work His or HIS may refer to: Computing * Hightech Information System, a Hong Kong graphics card company * Honeywell Information Systems * Hybrid intelligent system * Microsoft Host Integration Server Education * Hangzhou International School, i ...
with
Brian Eno Brian Peter George Jean-Baptiste de la Salle Eno (, born 15 May 1948), also mononymously known as Eno, is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, visual artist, and activist. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to ambien ...
), the music of Heldon blended
electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductors * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic c ...
and
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
forms. The first releases under the name Schizo, and later Heldon, were self-produced and self-distributed.Richard Pinhas , Biography
AllMusic. Retrieved on 2014-04-24.
Jim Dorsch from ''
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
'' would later describe Heldon's seven albums as "groundbreaking." Pinhas had previously led the band Schizo and also released six albums under his own name. Pinhas has worked with numerous collaborators, including musicians of the band
Magma Magma () is the molten or semi-molten natural material from which all igneous rocks are formed. Magma (sometimes colloquially but incorrectly referred to as ''lava'') is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and evidence of magmatism has also ...
, and music journalist and multi-instrumentalist Hervé Picart. He was also associated with philosophers such as
Gilles Deleuze Gilles Louis René Deleuze (18 January 1925 – 4 November 1995) was a French philosopher who, from the early 1950s until his death in 1995, wrote on philosophy, literature, film, and fine art. His most popular works were the two volumes o ...
(of whom he was a student). and
Jean-François Lyotard Jean-François Lyotard (; ; 10 August 1924 – 21 April 1998) was a French philosopher, sociologist, and literary theorist. His interdisciplinary discourse spans such topics as epistemology and communication, the human body, modern art and p ...
, as well as writers such as
Norman Spinrad Norman Richard Spinrad (born September 15, 1940) is an American science fiction author, essayist, and critic. His fiction has won the Prix Apollo Award, Prix Apollo and been nominated for numerous awards, including the Hugo Award and multiple N ...
and the essayist and novelist
Maurice Dantec Maurice Georges Dantec (; 14 June 1959 – 25 June 2016) was a French-born Canadian science fiction writer and musician. Biography Dantec was born in Grenoble, France, the son of a Journalism, journalist and a Sewing, seamstress. He grew up pri ...
. Pinhas completed his
PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
in Philosophy from the
Paris-Sorbonne University Paris-Sorbonne University (also known as Paris IV; ) was a public university, public research university in Paris, France, active from 1971 to 2017. It was the main inheritor of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Paris. In 2018, it m ...
in 1974, teaching for one year and beginning Heldon. The Pinhas/Heldon catalog was reissued on CD by the label Cuneiform, and later Bureau B.


Discography of Richard Pinhas and Heldon

* Schizo : ''And The Little Girl/Paraphrénia Praecox'' (1972) (7") * Schizo : ''Le Voyageur/Torcol'' (1972) (7") * Heldon : ''Électronique Guerilla'' (1974) * Heldon : ''Allez Téia'' (1974) * Heldon : ''Third (It's Always Rock and Roll)'' (1975) * Heldon : ''Soutien à la RAF'' (7") (1975) * Heldon : ''Agneta Nilsson'' (1976) * Heldon : ''Perspective 1 bis complément/Perspective 4 bis'' (1976) (7") * Heldon : ''Un Rêve Sans Conséquence Spéciale'' (1976) * Richard Pinhas : ''Rhizosphère'' (1977) * T.H.X. : ''Telstar / Rhizosphère Suite'' (1978) (7") * Richard Dunn : ''Séquences/Modulations'' (1978) (7") * Richard Pinhas : ''Chronolyse'' (1978) * Ose : ''Adonia'' (1978) * Heldon : ''Interface'' (1977) * Heldon : ''Stand By'' (1979) * Richard Pinhas : ''Iceland'' (1979) * Richard Pinhas : ''East West'' (1980) * Richard Pinhas : ''L'Ethique'' (1982) * Richard Pinhas Heldon : ''Perspective'' (1983) * Richard Pinhas : ''DWW'' (1992) * Richard Pinhas & John Livengood : ''Cyborg Sally'' (1994) * Richard Pinhas & John Livengood : ''Single'' (1996) * Richard Pinhas : ''De l'Un et du Multiple'' (1997) * Schizotrope : ''Le Plan'' (1999) * Richard Pinhas &
Peter Frohmader Peter Frohmader (9 May 1958 – 2 May 2022) was a German electronic composer, musician and visual artist. He was also known by the pseudonym Nekropolis, a name under which he released several early works. Taking cues from Carl Orff, Magma, Glenn ...
: '' Fossil Culture'' (1999) * Pascal Comelade & Richard Pinhas : ''Oblique Sessions II'' (1999) * Schizotrope : ''The Life And Death Of Marie Zorn - North American Tour 1999'' (2000) * Schizotrope : ''III Le Pli'' (2001) * Heldon : ''Only Chaos is Real'' (2001) * Richard Pinhas : ''Event and Repetitions'' (2003) * Richard Pinhas : ''Tranzition'' (2004) * Richard Pinhas : ''Metatron'' (2006, 2CDs) * Richard Pinhas &
Merzbow is a Japanese noise project started in 1979 by Masami Akita, best known for a style of harsh noise music. Since 1980, Akita has released over 500 recordings and collaborated with numerous artists. The name Merzbow comes from the German dada a ...
: '' Keio Line'' (2008, 2CDs) * Richard Pinhas : ''Metal/Crystal'' (2010, 2CDs) with Merzbow &
Wolf Eyes __NOTOC__ Wolf Eyes is an American experimental music group from Detroit, Michigan, formed in 1996 by Nate Young. Currently a duo, Wolf Eyes are a prominent act within contemporary noise music. They have collaborated with a variety of artists fro ...
* Råd Kjetil Senza Testa : ''Vinliden'' (2010, LP) with Richard Pinhas and RKST. * Richard Pinhas & Merzbow : ''Rhizome'' (2011) * Richard Pinhas & Merzbow : ''Paris 2008'' (2011, LP) * Richard Pinhas : ''Desolation Row'' (2013) ''The majority of recordings of Richard Pinhas and Heldon were first pressed on CD by French label
Spalax ''Spalax'' is a genus of rodent in the family Spalacidae, subfamily Spalacinae (blind mole-rats). It is one of two extant genera in the subfamily Spalacinae, alongside '' Nannospalax''.' Species in this genus are found in eastern Europe an ...
and American label
Cuneiform Records Cuneiform Records is a record label in Silver Spring, Maryland. Founded in 1984, the label releases a mixture of musical styles, all with a Rock in Opposition aesthetic, including progressive jazz, jazz fusion, the Canterbury scene, and electron ...
, featuring numerous bonus tracks. Several titles have also been subsequently reissued by
Bureau B Bureau B (sometimes quoted as ''Bureau-B'') is an independent record label, music publisher and booking agency from Hamburg, Germany, founded in 2005 by Gunther Buskies (B for Buskies) as a sister label to Tapete Records. The label releases varie ...
.''


References


Further reading


Chronolyse review


External links


Official Richard Pinhas website
{{Authority control French electronic music groups French experimental music groups French rock music groups Musical groups from Paris