Heldon was a French
electronic rock
Electronic rock is a music genre that involves a combination of rock music and electronic music
Electronic music is a Music genre, genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or electronics, circuitry- ...
band originally active between 1974 and 1978, and led by guitarist Richard Pinhas.
Other members included
synthesizer
A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis ...
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 and been nominated for numerous awards, including the Hugo Award and multiple Nebula Awards.
Per ...
.
Influenced by the work of
Robert Fripp
Robert Fripp (born 16 May 1946) is a British musician, songwriter, 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 ...
(and sometimes evoking
his work with
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...
), the music of Heldon blended
electronic
Electronic may refer to:
*Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor
* ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal
*Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device
*Electronic co ...
and
rock forms.
The first releases under the name Schizo, and later Heldon, were self-produced and self-distributed.
[Richard Pinhas , Biography](_blank)
AllMusic. Retrieved on 2014-04-24. Jim Dorsch from ''
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...
'' 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 is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and evidence of magmatism has also been discovered on other terrestrial planets and some natura ...
, and music journalist and multi-instrumentalist
Hervé Picart.
He was also was associated with philosophers such as
Gilles Deleuze (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 ...
,
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 and been nominated for numerous awards, including the Hugo Award and multiple Nebula Awards.
Per ...
and the essayist and novelist
Maurice Dantec
Maurice Georges Dantec (; 13 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 journalist and a seamstress. He grew up primarily in Ivry-sur-Se ...
.
Pinhas completed his
PhD PHD or PhD may refer to:
* Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification
Entertainment
* '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series
* ''Piled Higher and Deeper
''Piled Higher and Deeper'' (also known as ''PhD Comics''), is a newsp ...
in Philosophy from the
Paris-Sorbonne University
Paris-Sorbonne University (also known as Paris IV; french: Université Paris-Sorbonne, Paris IV) was a public research university in Paris, France, active from 1971 to 2017. It was the main inheritor of the Faculty of Humanities of the Universit ...
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'' (1980)
* 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: ''
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 , best known for a style of harsh, confrontational noise. Since 1980, Akita has released over 400 recordings and has collaborated with various artists.
The name Merzbow comes from the German dada ...
: ''
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 pressed on CD by French label
Spalax and American label
Cuneiform Records
Cuneiform Records is a record label in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Founded in 1984, the label releases an mixture of musical styles, all with a Rock in Opposition aesthetic, including progressive jazz, jazz fusion, the Canterbury scene, and electr ...
, featuring numerous bonus tracks.''
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