Heldon/Richard Pinhas: S&D

Sorry, I've never been afflicted by trendiness

drum machines! horribly contrived vocals! inferior techno remakes of 'dedicated to k.c.' masquerading under new song titles!

badwrongfalseheldon. yet I will probably not sell it, either.

how's 'tranzition'? encouraged by the promise of more live drumming / violin / laptop.

and really fun looking conference about 'the human project'
http://www.prism-escape.com/article_us.php3?id_article=89

prism escape looks like a cool magazine

my hopes were up for the new Heldon; I'm overreacting above, it's not strictly bad, but the chemistry is slightly off. still happy he's recording again.

1974 Electronic Guerilla
1975 Allez Teia
1975 It's Always Rock and Roll
1976 Agneta Nilsson
1976 Un Reve Sans Consequence Speciale
1977 Interface
1979 Stand By

Their sound could best be described as a mixture of Frippian guitars with the cold, icy prog of KING CRIMSON and the hypnotic drones of CAN over a harsh, aggressive electronic background. Their six first albums range from fairly spacy and quiet (“Allez Teia”) to brain-searing sonic attacks (“Interface”). The easiest one to get into and most recommended to neophytes is “Stand By”, their strongest effort to date. It is the least chaotic and most CRIMSON-like of the lot yet still features Pinhas’ frenzied/tortured guitar play that verges on heavy metal in spots, complete with growling bass and guttural vocals. -- www.progarchives.com

Heldon's 5th album, recorded in 1976. This is a crushingly dense synthesis of loud sounds. Magma-styled intensity meeting the "apex of the punk electronic sound" -- a masterpiece. -- Forced Exposure

Heldon's last was album was also their best. Stand By stood on an imaginary crossroad between Robert Fripp, Magma and Tangerine Dream. -- Scented Gardens of the Mind

Hmmmmmm, two years and counting!

True. It is the epitome of relentlessness.

HELDON
Title: Live Electronik Guerilla: Paris 1975-1976
Label: CAPTAIN TRIP (JAPAN)
Format: CD
Price: $22.00
Live 1976 + 1975. Previously unreleased material. Special miniature LP paper sleeve. Limited 1000 copies. Japan release only!" 1) 1984 Apres Cosmic C'etait, 2) Distribution Derrioration Live, 3) Heldon Is Back, 4) Lady From The North, 5) Klossowski's Circlus Vitiosus, 6) Death Of Omar Diop Blondin, 7) Track Of Cocaine. Track 1 & 2: Patrick Gauthier: Mini-Moog, Moog Bass; Francois Auger: Drums; Richard Pinhas: Guitars, Moog; Recorded May-June 1976 At Le Palace Paris. Track 3 To 7: Richard Pinhas: Guitar, Mellotron, Aks & Arp 2600 Synthesizer; Alain Renaud: Guitar & Analog Keyboards.

Artist: HELDON
Title: Well and Alive In France: Live in Nancy 1979
Label: CAPTAIN TRIP (JAPAN)
Format: 2CD
Price: $32.00
Live at Nancy, France 1979 two CD set. Previously unreleased material. Special miniature LP gate-fold paper sleeve. Limited 1000 copies. Japan release only!" Disc 1: 1) Virgin Marie Overdrive, 2) Heldon UFO War Machine, 3) Schizosphere/Mekanosphere/Rhiszosphere, 4) Red Line Target. Disc 2: 1)The Large Interface Session, 2)Mellotronic Dune Dance. Richard Pinhas: Guitars, Synthesizers, Sequencer And Mellotron; Pierrot Roussel: Bass Guitar And Mellotron; Francois Auger: Drums And Percussion. Recorded 19th March 1979 Nancy France.

has anyone heard these?

anyway, answering my own question:
is it a heldon track and i'm just not observant?

it's on the first heldon album with a long title, but i think it's the 7" version of schizo's "le voyageur." schizo were pre-heldon and said 7" was recently reissued by red lounge records and it's a fucking monster. more tetes lourdes than allez teia, though.

i finally bought electronic guerilla, stand by, agneta nilsson and iceland, all excellent. and then dww, not so excellent and a little lame.

if it was the only album of some obscure NWW list band people would be losing their shit over it, but it's just heldon. murky heldon.

Three years now

I can see why this never came out until now, the sound quality is pretty crisped out

but god this is face-melting, they don't stop -- if this were well recorded this would probably even top Interface -- I hope there are other live Heldon tapes from this time still waiting to be rediscovered

Richard Pinhas : Rhizosphère (1977)
Richard Pinhas : Chronolyse (1978)
Richard Pinhas : Iceland (1980)
and an anthology of singles '72-'80:

< SCHIZO >
1. Schizo (And The Little Girl)
2. Paraphrenia Praecox
3. Le Voyageur
4. Torcol
< HELDON >
5. Baader-Meinhof Blues
6. O.D.B.
7. Perspectives 1 bis complement
8. Perspectives 4 bis
< T.H.X. >
9. Telstar
10. Rhizosphere suite
< RICHARD PINHAS >
11. Rhizosphere Sequent
12. Claire P.
13. West Side
14. Houston 69
15. Beautiful May

i think of buying Chronolise and Iceland: any suggestion?

chronolyse - first half is simple, repetitive synthesizer-sequencer stuff, short tracks. second half is one long 30 minute jam in the heldon rock style. all use character names from dune as titles.

iceland is all minimal synth stuff, droney and dark.

(it should be noted that you can get chronolyse for $13 from cuneiform records. iceland is apparently out of print.)

i can't believe nobody posted this yet - angbase did a young person's guide to heldon a while back, well worth reading.

wow, ANOTHER xpost with God Punch.

!!!

DATES
June to July - USA TOUR (including West Coast)
24 juin : Santa Monica (Los Angeles)
27 juin : G3 Lounge (San Francisco)
29 juin : 21 Grand, Oakland (San Francisco)
1er juillet : Rotture, Portland
2 ou 3 juillet : Horrist club, Seattle
5 juillet : Montreal Jazz festival, Canada
9 july: Detroit
12 juillet : Washington DC
13 juillet : Baltimore
12 Octobre: Tokyo, Japan

Richard Pinhas + Wolf Eyes
Recording NYC + Michigan, March 2007
Status : confirmed

Funnily enough I just got a copy of the new Pinhas in the mail, along with the reissue of Heldon 6. Which was nice but I dunno, I more admire Pinhas than love him.

is that like richard pinhas WITH wolf eyes or richard pinhas, wolf eyes opening?

I don't know about the dates with Wolf Eyes, but I understand the last bit to mean collaborative recording (NYC + MICHIGAN). Like, wow! The live dates aren't much use to me, sadly, but you kids all enjoy now.

I've been on a major Heldon/RP tip in the past few weeks ever since I got the singles comp, which is a superb primer of his work and really shows the evolution of his sound in great bite-size chunks - an awesome listen (esp. when driving at night!). The version of Telstar is one of the best things I've heard all year for sure. Get it while you can, as it's now sold out at source, but Forced Exposure still have copies.

"Half a year until Dadaismus will be buying Yes box sets"

Three years now
-- Dadaismus (Dada), neljapäev, 12. Oktoober 2006

My oh my, doesn't time fly-ah?

Oh, and if that "new Pinhas" that Ned mentioned should be the Metetron two-fer, then some of that 's pretty gripping.

Wolf Eyes + Pinhas collab has been in the works since last summer, looks like it's finally moving forward.

the Metetron two-fer

And indeed it is.

or Metatron, even? :)

Recent Richard Pinhas - sound art performance is a stunning listening experience !

on youtube: Richard Pinhas at Highways
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6dft_tfahw

"iceland" sounds a lot like vangelis ca. blade runner. maybe they were using similar equipment? but the compositional style is similar too.

I am listening to "Chaos Line" -- is the rest of Keio Line as lushly Fenneszy and beautiful?

The title track of Interface about did me in on my bus ride this morning. What a kick ass tune.

Interface. Just... wow.

One of those 19 minute tracks you wish was 90 min.

I've only just discovered how much bands like Trans Am sound like these guys. Wow.

Pinhas solo records are great for winter. L'Ethique and Chronolyse soundtracking gray days in the bay, and also kicking a lot of ass!!!!

eh Dominique, last I went to sleep listening to Iceland and this morning I woke up with Chronolyse. Winter is indeed arrived!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcqo0bDj9IU&feature=related

discovered him last week

this is gonna be my next musical obsession afaict

I think the Patrick Gauthier solo album is really worth checking out if you like Heldon! I like it better than Pinhas's solo stuff .

amazed that he has done a disco version of telstar and records with ~gilles deleuze~ and he doesn't have a wikipedia page in his own name

was a student of deleuze, had a really cool conversation with him about music in which deleuze was just an old snobby jerk when pinhas was trying to big up fripp and shit. i wrote about it but like fuck is anyone reading that. go here: http://www.webdeleuze.com/php/texte.php?cle=5&groupe=Anti%20Oedipe%20et%20Mille%20Plateaux&langue=2

Pinhas put out a 2CD set this year, Metal/Crystal, with Merzbow and Wolf Eyes on it. It's great. I reviewed it for The Wire but I don't think the review's run yet.

yeah i gotta get that, hope review is in wire e.o.y. issue

joe meek >>> deleuze >>>> merzbow

20th century yall

Agreeing with unperson, in fact I just submitted my AMG review for it -- his collaborators (both tour band and the guests) are excellent throughout but Pinhas's work is of course the core and it's just lovely as well as harrowing in equal measure.

!!! I did not know about this!
Maybe Santa will know what to bring me now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KKNDf95AgI&feature=player_embedded

nb ive not seen RP but i nonetheless believe him to be relevant on account of his wondrous albums

Sounds pretty great. The venue is kind of weird and I didn't think it booked shows like this, but I guess it does. Will be best if I can get a seat, I imagine.

is he playing solo or with others? I saw him play with members of Wolf Eyes back in September, and it was pretty intense and loud.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSc1AojeTbE

I absolutely adore Pinhas/Heldon!! What a group, what a concept! I want more sci-fi cyborg prog, I really do. All the albums up through East/West are worthwhile although it's true I haven't heard anything after that. East/West is half good. Interface, Stand By and Rhizosphere Live Paris are my favorites. Killer drumming. I actually have been practicing drums to sequencers since getting into this band and it's a heck of a lot of fun but so easy to fuck up and train wreck. Infinite respect. I always wonder how the hell this group managed to be professionals/full time. Only in France, only in the 70s I guess. Maybe the novelty of giant moog modulars and the (very) distant relationship to groups like Tangerine Dream gave them a boost?!

(Dadaismus -- how's yer Yes box-sets buyin' goin'?
:)

Can't see it happening, but it'd be great to see Pinhas going out under the Heldon name again.

I want more sci-fi cyborg prog, I really do.

Try Cybotron! (the Aussie band from the 70s that is, not Juan Atkins)

Cool, thanks Matt#2!

Incidentally, some of the instrumental Juan Atkins Cybotron is the only techno I've ever really been able to get behind - I want more of that, very badly! I want a whole album that sounds like the instrumental Techno City. Does such a thing exist by any chance? I am completely 100% uninformed about the genre. All I know is I don't like it once samplers come in and they start using those big loud drum beats for dance music. I like it when it's all analog synths, with subdued electronic drums, and preferably with a dark kraftwerk vibe. And no vocals.

Maybe I should bump a techno thread? This kind of feels like a more appropriate place to ask though...

I want more sci-fi cyborg prog, I really do.

Bernard Szajner, dude.

Perfect, thanks, much appreciated.

Revisiting Metal/Crystal today instead of working.

Heldon fans please vote in 70s poll and get them rightly further up!
I introduced sund4r to them so poll has had 1 success already!

Funny, I was just thinking about them as I saw Agneta Nilsson and Stand By at Reckless last weekend. Coincidentally those are the two I don't have -- I don't even have MP3s of Stand By even though I swore I had something years ago (after I last posted here in 2005 maybe). They are the Cuneiform editions from '93. Not sure of the newer Captain Trip ones offered remasters?

Are the cds oop?

Maybe not, I see they are available at ImportCDs. Their release date is 2004 on Cuneiform.

http://www.importcds.com/music/168328/heldon-interface
http://www.importcds.com/music/548051/heldon-stand-by

Tonight, San Francisco Pinhas immanent

http://www.sfemf.org/archive/sfemf-2013/

http://fantasticfreedominstitute.com/work/the-body-of-your-pet-philosophy-person-i-do-not-despair-important/

he's doing a brief US tour

- September 14 – October 3, 2013 -
Richard Pinhas North American mini-tour
– performances in Canada & USA –

2013 NORTH AMERICAN TOUR
Sept. 14
Stanford,
California
KZSU 90.1 FM
(radio station at Stanford University)
Listen Live

Richard Pinhas
Radio appearance
Sept. 15
San Francisco,
California
San Francisco Electronic Music Festival
Brava Theater Center
2781 24th St. (at York)
San Francisco, CA

Richard Pinhas
8 pm

Sept. 18
Sacramento,
California
Bows and Arrows
1815 19th St. Sacramento, CA 916.822.5668
Richard Pinhas
with Barry Cleveland

Sept. 19
Oakland,
California
Duende
468 29th St.
Oakland, CA
www.duendeoakland.com

Richard Pinhas
with Barry Cleveland
Sept. 27
Cleveland,
Ohio
Negative Space
3820 Superior Ave. East Cleveland, OH 216.485.3195 Richard Pinhas
Sept. 28 Erie,
Pennsylvania
Performing Artists Collective Alliance
1505 State Street
Erie, PA 16501

Richard Pinhas
Sept. 29
Oberlin,
Ohio
Oberlin College Music Conservatory
"Room C25"
77 W College St
Oberlin, OH 44074 Richard Pinhas with Aaron Dilloway
Oct. 1 Brooklyn,
NY St. Vitus
1120 Manhattan Ave. Brooklyn, NY Richard Pinhas
with Aaron Dilloway
Oct. 2 Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania Brillobox
4104 Penn. Ave. Pittsburgh, PA 412.621.4900 Richard Pinhas
with Aaron Dilloway
Oct. 3 Washington D.C.
Sonic Circuits Festival
Atlas Performing Arts Center
1333 H Street NE
Washington D.C.

Richard Pinhas
7:30 pm

the sfemf logo reminds me of the zodiac logo

richard pinhas still doesn't have a wikipedia article after all these years

someone in ohio loves him eh?
guess this means flying into cleveland instead of chicago :(

new rp / tatsuya lp is good

"circulus vitiosus"

Have got "Interface", interesting record, very relenteless and claustrophobic - if this is Prog Rock then it's a pity British Prog Rock is never this good
― Dadaismus (Dada), Friday, October 10, 2003 3:11 PM

getting into these guys lately - "interface", "stand by" and pinhas' "chronolyse" in particular

"aurore" is melting my mind right now. fuck

Interface/Stand By are such a devastating 1-2 punch.

"circulus vitiosus"

― reggie (qualmsley), Friday, 13 February 2015 00:26 (2 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

that was a pretty key track for me when I used to make weird dj mixes that shifted genres every 15 seconds