Le Voyageur - John Warsen, circa 2005

Sur un texte que Gilles Deleuze attribuait à Nietzsche, mais je crois qu'il bluffait.
Pinhas avait dû lui faire fumer du Heldon.

Heldon 6 - Interface (1978)

Si vous trouvez la pochette jolie, attendez d'avoir entendu le disque
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=63U3KN69

Heldon - Stand By (1979)

Take a whole bunch of Fripp-style guitar circa the Starless and Bible Black album, mix it with electronic, near-industrial soundscapes, and you have Stand By. This is pretty alien stuff. Basically each piece relies on spacy, sci-fi analog keyboards that alternate between monolithic repetition of patterns, and eerie echoes, screeches, and skronks. The guitar accompaniment is either "Fracture"-like creepy-crawly tension/structure, or "Starless and Bible Black" style howling chaos. Drums are somewhat intermittent; sometimes a martial aggressive drum beat drives things into semi-industrial mode, and other times the drums are nearly non-existent, letting the keyboards and guitars drift off into outer space.

The textures here are pretty intriguing. The guitars have a grainy, crunchy, jagged sound that suits the style well. The keyboards all have a cold, echo-y, overly electronic sound to them (as opposed to mimicking a natural sound); they always remind me of the soundtrack to a science fiction movie from the 70s. Maybe the music would fit with "Black Hole" or "Tron" or something like that...

The good thing is that Heldon can capture that KC/Fripp guitar pretty well; the downside is that it will never compare to the splendor of the real thing (for me, anyway). However, Heldon is no KC rip-off; they just take an element of that style, and apply it to something new.

King Crimson fans might like this, as well as anybody that enjoys the electronic side of prog. This might even appeal to those that also enjoy modern trance, techno, and industrial music. Also, some Magma members are present as well! All in all, Stand By is a very interesting CD. It is worth checking out if you want to feast your ears on something different. (source)

chronique en français qui dit à peu près la même chose, à croire qu'ils se sont donnés le mot. C'est vrai que le premier morceau prend bien la kiche. Et dire que je pouvais écouter ça en boucle quand c'est sorti. Ca n'excuse pas tout, mais ça explique beaucoup.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=HIC4IMRN

Heldon: Heldon III - "It's Always Rock'N'Roll" (1975)

se référer au post précédent pour plus d'information.
Y'a pas marqué "syndicat d'initiative".

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=6O44BADZ

Heldon - Electronique Guerilla (1974)

Pas vraiment introuvable, mais pas facile quand même.
Et qui se souvient de Heldon ?
Mythique pour une poignée d'inconditionnels gnan-gnan des Frippertronics produits localement : Richard Pinhas est une sorte de Robert Fripp qui aurait croisé Deleuze au lieu de Gurdjeff et qui s'est compromis plus tard avec Spinrad, mais aussi avec Dantec.
Difficile de l'aimer quand on voit qui l'aime aussi, sur ce blog juste grotesque.
Rien que la mise en page, on dirait une parodie de Vuillemin du temps où il bossait sur "Ramon Lopez, poète et martyr".
M'enfin, on est tous le grotesque de quelqu'un d'autre.
Des fois même ça rassure de savoir de qui.
Bref.
J'ai repensé à ce disque à cause du morceau "Ouais Marchais, Mieux Qu'en 68 [ex- 'le Voyageur']" sur lequel je suis resté scotché avec Laurent Larose quand on avait 17 ans.
Où es-tu Laurent ?
Ah ouais merde c'est moi qui rompis, j'oubliais.


Heldon - 1974 - Electronique Guérilla

Titles:
1/ Zind (2: 18)
2/ Back to Heldon (8: 31)
3/ Northernland Lady (6:57)
4/ Ouais Marchais mieux qu'en 68 (Le voyageur) (4: 22)
5/ Circulus Vitiosus (8: 43)
6/ Ballade pour Puig Antich (révolutionnaire assassiné en Espagne) (2: 19)

Musicians:
Richard Pinhas: AKS synth, 1957 Gibson Les Paul guitar
Alain Renaud: guitar (3)
George Grunblatt: VCS3 synth (4)
Patrick Gauthier: piano and VCS3 synth (4)
Coco Roussel: drums (4)
Pierrot Roussel: guitar bass (4)
Gilles Deleuze: voice (4)

Between 1974 and 1982, Frenchman Richard Pinhas recorded at least twelve LPs either under the Heldon name or his own, alternating between guitars and keyboards himself and accompanied by a variety of associates on guitars, drums and analog synthesizers. This double CD reissue includes Heldon's very first release, Electronique Guerrilla, and their third, It's Always Rock 'n' Roll (itself a double LP originally). These releases are sometimes referred to as Heldon I and Heldon III (Heldon II, otherwise known as Allez Teia, was recorded earlier in 1975). In spite of the rather aggressive album titles, these early recordings are mellow to the point of ambient, and inscrutably (or perversely), there's very little music in the entire program which would be considered rock & roll by any stretch of the imagination. (Very unobtrusive drums appear only on several of the later tracks on the Rock 'n' Roll reissue.) Most musical biographies of Heldon/Pinhas speak of the Eno/Fripp influence, and indeed, Pinhas encouraged the connection in early interviews by referring to the two English musicians in terms bordering on hero worship. But Pinhas is too modest. Much of the better-known electronic trance music that Pinhas and Heldon seem to be imitating, e.g., early Tangerine Dream, Soft Machine, Fripp and Eno, etc., actually comes after these early Heldon recordings -- or is occurring at roughly the same time. Aside from Fripp/Eno's No Pussyfooting, only the first edition of Fripp's King Crimson band could be considered as an obvious influence, but Pinhas doesn't use vocalists, and seldom demonstrates any delusions of prog-rock grandeur on these releases. If Pinhas is paying homage to Fripp on these recordings, then he is also extending Fripp as well, with the wailing sustain of Pinhas' heavily processed guitar gliding over the top of a number of looped and sequenced synthesizer patterns to good effect. By later standards, the electronic equipment used by Heldon is almost laughably antique, and the concepts may also seem simple and predictable to a more sophisticated audience. Nonetheless, there is a purity and conviction to this music, and a dark, slightly sinister element perhaps best exemplified in the long "Dr. Bloodmoney," a title inspired by the great sci-fi writer Philip K. Dick. Like Dick, Pinhas has a talent for messing with your head, and combines overlapping patterns in such a way that time itself sometimes seems suspended. ~ William Tilland, All Music Guide

Bio:
Led by guitarist Richard Pinhas, the French group Heldon released seven groundbreaking albums, melding electronic and rock forms, from 1974 to 1978. Pinhas also recorded six albums under his own name. Pinhas was heavily influenced by Robert Fripp; this shows in his guitar playing, and in the titles of several of his compositions. While early LPs sometimes evoked the sound of Fripp and Eno, Heldon evolved in its own direction. The release of Heldon IV: Agneta Nilsson saw the group heading toward a more intense, menacing sound. Heldon V: Un Reve Sans Consequence Speciale was the first to feature the "classic" lineup of Pinhas, drummer Francois Auger, and keyboard player Patrick Gauthier. These three would be the key personnel on Heldon's last four albums. The entire Pinhas/Heldon catalog was reissued on CD by Cuneiform, several featuring bonus live tracks. ~ Jim Dorsch, All Music Guide


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