Heldon

{{Short description|French band}} {{Infobox musical artist  | name = Heldon | image = | caption = | image_size = | landscape = | background = group_or_band | origin = France | genre = {{flatlist| * Electronic rock<ref name="srmag">{{cite web |last1=Walcroft |first1=Justin |title=The Way Forward: An Interview With Electronic Music Pioneer Richard Pinhas |url=https://sr-mag.com/2019/05/richard-pinhas-interview/ |website=SR-Mag |accessdate=14 August 2019}}</ref> *experimental rock<ref name="cyc">{{cite web |last1=Mitchell |first1=Tony |title=Richard Pinhas: Electronique Guerilla – A Profile by Tony Mitchell |url=https://www.cyclicdefrost.com/2015/11/richard-pinhas-electronique-guerilla-a-profile-by-tony-mitchell/ |website=Cyclic Defrost |date=9 November 2015 |accessdate=14 August 2019}}</ref> *progressive<ref>{{cite web |title=Album Reviews |url=https://www.thestranger.com/seattle/album-reviews/Content?oid=21140778 |website=The Stranger |accessdate=14 August 2019}}</ref> }} | years_active = 1974–1978, 2001 | label = {{flatlist| * Cuneiform * Bureau B }} | associated_acts = {{flatlist| * Schizo * Magma }} | website = | current_members = | past_members = Richard Pinhas Patrick Gauthier François Auger Didier Batard Georges Grunblatt Philibert Rossi Jannick Top Michel Ettori }} '''Heldon''' was a French electronic rock band originally active between 1974 and 1978, and led by guitarist Richard Pinhas.<ref name="allmusic"/> Other members included synthesizer player Patrick Gauthier and drummer François Auger.<ref name=ProgArch1302>{{cite web|title=HELDON|url=http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=1302|publisher=Prog Archives|accessdate=7 November 2015}}</ref> The name of the band was taken from the 1972 novel ''The Iron Dream'' by Norman Spinrad.<ref name=DKeenan2015>{{cite web|last1=Keenan|first1=David|title=Reality Is For People Who Can't Handle Science Fiction: Gallic Futurism in the French Underground 1969-1985|url=http://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2015/10/gallic-futurism-in-the-french-underground|publisher=Red Bull Music Academy|accessdate=7 November 2015|date=October 28, 2015}}</ref>

Influenced by the work of Robert Fripp (and sometimes evoking his work with Brian Eno), the music of Heldon blended electronic and rock forms.<ref name="allmusic"/> The first releases under the name Schizo, and later Heldon, were self-produced and self-distributed.<ref name="AMG">[http://www.allmusic.com/artist/richard-pinhas-mn0000852487/biography Richard Pinhas | Biography]. AllMusic. Retrieved on 2014-04-24.</ref> Jim Dorsch from ''AllMusic'' would later describe Heldon's seven albums as "groundbreaking."<ref name="allmusic">{{cite web |last1=Dorsch |first1=Jim |title=Biography |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/heldon-mn0000567183 |website=AllMusic |accessdate=14 August 2019}}</ref>

Pinhas had previously led the band Schizo and also released six albums under his own name.<ref name="AMG"/> Pinhas has worked with numerous collaborators, including musicians of the band Magma, and music journalist and multi-instrumentalist Hervé Picart.<ref name="discogs-ose">{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/2508881-Ose|title = Ose|website = Discogs}}</ref> He was also associated with philosophers such as Gilles Deleuze (of whom he was a student).<ref>{{Cite news | last = Masters | first = Mark | title = Richard Pinhas on lessons learned during a lifetime making experimental music | work = The Washington Post | accessdate = 2014-05-31 | date = 2014-05-29 | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/richard-pinhas-on-lessons-learned-during-a-lifetime-making-experimental-music/2014/05/29/835f1edc-e5ac-11e3-a86b-362fd5443d19_story.html }}</ref> and Jean-François Lyotard,<ref name="cyc"/> as well as writers such as Norman Spinrad and the essayist and novelist Maurice Dantec.<ref name="AMG"/> Pinhas completed his PhD in Philosophy from the Paris-Sorbonne University in 1974, teaching for one year and beginning Heldon.<ref name="cyc"/>

The Pinhas/Heldon catalog was reissued on CD by the label Cuneiform, and later Bureau B.<ref name="allmusic"/>

==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''': ''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''' : ''Keio Line'' (2008, 2CDs) * '''Richard Pinhas''' : ''Metal/Crystal'' (2010, 2CDs) with Merzbow & Wolf Eyes * '''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)<ref>[http://www.allmusic.com/artist/richard-pinhas-mn0000852487/discography Richard Pinhas | Discography]. AllMusic. Retrieved on 2014-04-24.</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Heldon Discography|url=http://www.discogs.com/artist/83138-Heldon|publisher=Discogs|accessdate=7 November 2015}}</ref>

''The majority of recordings of Richard Pinhas and Heldon were first pressed on CD by French label Spalax and American label Cuneiform Records, featuring numerous bonus tracks. Several titles have also been subsequently reissued by Bureau B.''

==References== {{Reflist}}

== Further reading == *[http://www.audionautas.com/2011/07/richard-pinhas-chronolyse.html Chronolyse review] *[http://www.audionautas.com/2011/12/richard-pinhas-rhizosphere.html Rhizosphère review] *[http://www.audionautas.com/2012/02/richard-pinhas-iceland.html Iceland review] *[http://www.audionautas.com/2012/10/richard-pinhas-east-west.html East West review]

==External links== *[http://www.richard-pinhas.com/ Official Richard Pinhas website] *[http://cuneiformrecords.com/bandshtml/pinhas.html Richard Pinhas/Heldon chez Cuneiform Records]

Category:French electronic music groups Category:French experimental music groups Category:French rock music groups Category:Musical groups from Paris Category:Bureau B artists