Heldon

Artist: Richard Pinhas
P: 2002
Post Heldon, Pinhas's solo work has often been conducted with an electric guitar and the kind of infinite tape delay system associated with Robert Fripp and his collaborations with Brian Eno, though recently (like Fripp) he has abandoned the hassles of tapeloops for a stack of shiny digital boxes. In a casual blindfold test 9 out of 10 progheads would probably swear that this album was the work of the Crimson King himself. (If Stars in their Eyes ever do an ambient art rock special, Richard's your man for the Fripp impersonation). Though Pinhas adopts the same, pure fuzzed tone and a liking for big slides up and down the fretboard, closer listening reveals a more personal aesthetic at work. He generates billowing clouds of processed guitar which shift through different tonal centres, sometimes ambiguously, sometimes gently, sometimes suddenly. Improvised lines hover and swoop in the distance, but the guitarist avoids flash heroics, more concerned with maintaining the constant flow of notes into his angelic dronescape. It's music that's in flux and stasis at the same time, with an almost sculptural presence, stuffed with overtones and rich textures. Played loud, it's almost too much, like having your head stuffed inside a recently struck church bell, but it's a deep, fulfilling listen at any volume. If Robert Fripp is still the chairman of The Heavenly Music Corporation, then Richard Pinhas is its C.E.O.

Artist: Richard Pinhas
P: 1977 / 1991
This early recording by Pinhas was one of the more electronic style releases. It sounds like Cyborg or Irrlicht from Schulze.

Artist: Richard Pinhas
P: 2007
Japanese Limited Edition issue of the album classic in a deluxe, miniaturized LP sleeve replica of the original vinyl album artwork. A collection of tracks originally released on 7-inches. Includes Schizo, Heldon, T.h.x., and solo recordings. 15 tracks in total.

Artist: Richard Pinhas
P: 2004
Composer, guitarist and electronics innovator Richard Pinhas is recognized as one of France’s major experimental musicians.
A pivotal figure in the international development of electronic rock music, Pinhas' stature in France is analogous to Tangerine Dream's in Germany: the father figure of an entire musical movement.
The pioneering, aggressive music produced by his band Heldon during the 1970s, fusing electronics, guitar and rock, heralded the industrial and techno to come and remains today vital and unsurpassed.
On Transition, Pinhas weaves beautiful, spacey, processed guitar tapestries, with added color from laptop, violin and the drumming of Antoine Paganotti of Magma. The voice of the late author Philip K. Dick can be heard on “Moumoune girl”, from a 1977 tape that he gave Pinhas. The BBC described his recent guitar music as “Music that is in flux and stasis at the same time, with an almost sculptural presence, stuffed with overtones and rich textures.”
Transition is a multifaceted and richly jeweled work in which cause and effect, acoustics and electronics, taped sound and live playing change roles and even realities.
"Among collectors of electronic music, some names have become legendary and are present in every search list. These names include Richard Pnhas, the leader of the French cult group Heldon."

Artist: Heldon
P: 2024
LTD 500
Richard Pinhas is a guitarist, synthesist and composer who has been a pioneer of the French music scene for over fifty years. From his works in the 70’s with the legendary progressive electronic rock band Heldon to his latest releases with experimental artists from around the world, Richard is a true artist who can both play a bad ass guitar and also explore its sonic boundaries. 1979’s “Iceland” was his third solo release and the first after the breakup of his band Heldon. A track originally recorded for the “Iceland” sessions, “Winter Music was shelved at the time for reasons unknown. Using the original looping procedures of the past made popular in the rock world by Fripp & Eno, Richard performed the song by hand-playing a PolyMoog directly into 2 Revox A700’s tape recorders. This is its debut on vinyl. Showing the minimalism and calm of the beginning of 70’s ambient music, the 2023 remix of this song brings new colors and flavors not heard in the original. Like a great black and white photograph, it takes you back in a time cloud full of depth and reflections. Essential ambient listening.

Limited and numbered to a one-time pressing of 500 copies, the vinyl includes a jacket, printed dust sleeve, and obi strip.