EDITORIAL:
Welcome to the CD Services Showcase series of catalogues. This one deals with one of THE most underrated guitarist-synth musician-composer talentsof the last 30 years, notably French musician Richard Pinhas.
At a time when the Krautrock boom was beginning to introduce synth musicand a whole new musical outlook to the prog-rock laden serious musiclistener, Richard Pinhas and his merry band of French revolutionaries beganto create music that took electronics, prog, systems music and beyond, intoa totally new dimension. The legacy of albums that remained, before the'90's re-emergence, are not only totally unique and positively timeless,but one of the most underrated bodies of work from a set of musicians, inthe last 30 years. This, then, is an overview of the music with every album a certified classic.
HELDON: Electronique Guerilla CD
The first steps. Right from the surge of electric guitar that opens thealbum, drums providing a solid base, while French narration takes centrestage, you know you are in a musical world that is new, adventurous andexciting, like nothing else you have heard. The narration fades. the guitarbackdrop and drums drive slowly on while a mini-moog solo emerges on top,the whole cauldron of sonic soup, bubbling away quite merrily by now, asthe solo ends and the voice returns, all highly charged, yet full offeeling and mood. Following this comes the cyclical synth intro to 'Back ToHeldon', an 8 minute instrumental (as is the rest of the album) where thetrademark searing lead guitar lines are really heard for the first time asthey soar out of the synths and rumbling undercurrents, to shine like abeacon on a synths/guitars trip like no other.
There is a marked Fripp& Eno influence but with more happening, and in fact it was alwayssuggested that he took this from their album, yet the two were beingcreated at a similar time and totally independently of each other. Pinhashas always been an admirer of Fripp's guitar work and this shows through.The guitar eventually fades to leave the synths buzzing, spluttering anddriving a newly textured cyclical backdrop for the final passage of thetrack. Track three is a two minute piece of atmospheric split-stereosynths/effects landscaping, before track four, based around a piece fromPinhas' previous band 'Schizo', reveals just two spacey minutes ofatmospheric cascading synths work, but quite dark for its time and muchmore intense than anything going on in Germany or elsewhere.'CirculusVitosus' features more cyclical synths, bubbling synths, synth backdrops,mostly moogs, and sounds/textures that are unique to the Heldon style, witha very busy musical landscape as more gorgeous electric guitar lines wellup from below to fill the central role with some fantastic, slowlyintensifying guitar sonics, on a really amazing piece of atmospherics, fartoo busy for the cosmic crew wittering away elsewhere in Europe.
Thefinal track puts the guitar work right out front with shimmering guitarbackdrops, that rich, searing guitar lead from Pinhas both upfront and outthe back, with a wide array of odd bursts of synths and effects and guitarscoming in at various intervals along the way, the balance of melodic andedgy in perfect harmony. This was just the beginning.
HELDON: Allez Teia CD
Mellotrons and guitars - the gorgeous sonic combination that opens thismagical album on an almost ballad-like track called 'In The Wake Of KingFripp' that opens this album, and just one fantastic way to start as thetwo instruments weave solid and melodic spells in a mood that is soheartfelt and yet totally original, in no way pro-rock but decidedlyprogressive, and nearly seven minutes of excellence from Pinhas and GeorgesGrunblatt.
Track two is an equally beautiful two minute acousticguitar melody that is very emotive. Track three is played by Pinhas andguitarist Alain Bellaiche, this time featuring the two guitarists on apiece that is 'dedicated to Fripp & Eno' and is very similar to thetextures that you'll hear on the "No Pussyfoooting" album, with thatsoaring electric guitar rising up to near emotional breaking point over theshimmering guitar backdrops fro over seven minutes. Track four returns tothe cyclical electronics of the first album but here adds a massiverumbling bass synth undercurrent for the short trip (less than twominutes). Throughout the rest of the album, there are lots more mellotrons,more guitar textures, more synth textures, more cyclical synth rhythms usedsensibly sparingly, a tremendous mix of atmospherics and melodies, on atruly remarkable album that still sounds fresh and vital to this day.
HELDON: Third - It's Always Rock 'n' Roll
Originally a double album at close on 90 minutes, this is still a landmarkalbum in Heldon's musical life, and is nothing short of mindblowing.Featuring as star attractions, two 17 & 18 minute tracks, plus a whole hostof longer pieces, this featured predominantly Pinhas on guitars and synths,with guest appearances from Lard Free's Gibert Artmann, Georges Grunblatt,Zao's Jean-My Truong and, for the first time on a Heldon album, synthmusician Patrick Gauthier. Musically, this is one potent sonic brew that isjust awesome. From synth passages, through more of those surging guitarleads over bubbling and cyclical synth backdrops to tracks that began thematurity of the Heldon synths- guitars- drums instrumental power rockstyle, restrained here, but for which the full fury would be unleashedlater on.
Again, the synths work was done on Moogs and ARP's, soundingtotally new and still in its own musical world, a style and sound that hasnever been copied to this day (you probably couldn't anyway). Of the tworeally long tracks, 'Aurore' starts with a massive electronic drone andsynth wind before a new higher register synth drone turns into a lead linethat sails over the top of the atmospheric layers that unfold, adding moresynth textures, solid sequencers, and more synth melody lines which riseand fall, echo and fade, leading into a sequencer-driven slice of musicthat is the only time they ever came close to the Germanic way of things,but there they immediately change the shape of the piece the momentanything resembling a tune emerges, yet it is still highly emotive andmelodic, but in a slightly darker universe, altogether a fantastic slice ofuniquely sounding synths music. By contrast, 'Dr Bloodmoney' starts with amore in-your-face set of cyclical synth and synth rhythmic layers that leadright into a wailing synth solo over the top, fading to leave the cyclicalsynths brooding away in the background before adding more darker synthlayers underneath and some eerie synth leads overhead. The drums onlyappear for the last 5 minutes but add a new force to the music that bringsthe swirling mass of synths to a mighty conclusion as rhythms and synthwaves crash and drive through a furious finale. A truly epic album.
HELDON: IV - Agneta Nilsson CD
As a preface, we have to deal with he releases first. Like a fool, I nolonger have my LP copy of this, but if you check out the back cover youwill notice a reprint from the original vinyl that states a 53 minuterunning time. Bizarrely, the Cuneiform edition only lasts 49 minutes. Evenmore bizarrely, the Spalax edition only lasts 46 minutes. While I can'tcompare these with the vinyl, I can compare the CD's and indeed two trackson the Spalax edition are shorter than the corresponding tracks on theCuneiform edition. But you get the benefit of the full-page front albumcove on the Spalax edition as opposed to the bordered front cover on theCuneiform edition, so you take your choice.
Musically, the first four tracks are largely solo, with help from variousfriends incl Michel Ettori and Coco Roussel along the way. Track one is asynth piece that mixes synth textures from spacey to drone, but with a richquality to them, played on the moog. Track two is a three minute piece ofswirling, cascading, twinkling lead synths that is very bright and melodicin its own cyclical way. Track three starts with more swirling synths and awicked, really solid sequencer line that really outdoes T. Dream and is wayupfront in the mix. Then, suddenly and magically, you hear the electricguitar come soaring into view as a smoking solo erupts and layers alongsidethe massive sequencer line, producing an effect so intense as to take yourbreath away. The guitar dies off around the seven minute mark, leaving thesequencers to go supernova for the final few minutes of the track. Trackfour is a short atmospheric bass guitar/guitar melody.
Finally there isthe 20+ minutes of 'Perspective IV' that starts with waves of Fripp/Enoguitar/treatments as a synth line slowly appears from the back of the mix,goes spacey, the guitars fade, the synths bubble and echo and a new leadsynth melody line rises from the depths, to be joined at the 6 minute pointby a new and wicked electric guitar texture, that fades briefly, beforereturning, joined by drums and bass and the whole piece goes into overdriveand surges forth on a steaming slice of electronic rock that is typicallyHeldon, with guitars blazing at the back, moving upfront, and multi-layeredfor even greater effect, as the track scorches through. A synth soloappears and adds to the textures to superb effect and this passage goesthrough to 15 minutes where it all stops, for another solid sequencer lineto appear, this time accompanied by drums and this massive barrage of drumsand sequencers takes the piece through, with synths forming a hissing,swirling background and surround towards the end where, on this CD release,the track stops abruptly at 21 minutes and 40 seconds Fantastic.
HELDON: Une Reve Sans Consequence Speciale CD
Named after a King Crimson bootleg (honestly!!), this marked the realbeginning of the trio nucleus of Pinhas-Auger-Gauthier that was,ultimately, to see out the final phase of the Heldon legacy. With guestappearances from long-time helper Didier Batard and, on the 15 minute'Toward The Red Line', ex-Magma bassist Janick Top (making a rareappearance outside the group, before virtually disappearing from thisscene for good), this can clearly be heard to be the most intense album sofar. The opening track alone from the trio has synths, drums and guitarsswirling, swarming, soling, roaring and soaring all over the place on topof an ongoing rumbling, lurching rhythmic base of drums and electronics,with the synths and guitars wailing away and the whole thing sounding likea musical representation of the inside of some giant machine-laden factoryhard at work. The power is simply awesome for nearly 12 minutes - heavyelectronic music at its deadliest. Then the 8 minute 'Elephanta' from justMoog synthesizer and drums/percussion. Here the drums and percussionclatter and crash on a flowing sea of rhythms, taking the centre stage andbuilding up to galloping pace as the synths kind of fils the gaps, theoverall effect being positively teeth-rattling, especially on headphones,but an illustration of a band who were ploughing musical furrows thatothers didn't even dare contemplate, and making it work. Track three is'Perspective IV' presumably a thematic continuation from the previousalbum, and here the central figure is the smoking guitar solo from Pinhasover the drums and sequencer-like moog bass rhythms, with the intensitylevel rising slowly as the piece evolves, a sound like no other group inexistence, and ending with a searing mini-moog-guitar duel towards the endof the piece. Track four features bass, drums and synths/Moog, this time amusical area somewhere between the factory-sounds of track one and thepercussive drive of track two but with the emphasis more on the well ofsynths and electronics that rise out of the mix as the slowly lumberingjuggernaut of a track crushes everything in its path. Then, the final (onthe original LP) track, the 15 minute 'Toward The Red Line' , a flamingcauldron of sonic attack that combines drums, sequencers, electric bass,space synth swoops, scorching electric guitar and tapes, not only showingthe power and originality of the Heldon beast but walking over theopposition around at the time. If you want to hear real muscle from synths,sequencers, drums, guitars and bass without any of the namby-pamby melodiesso beloved by the German purveyors, then you have to feel the might of thistrack as it glows at nuclear levels, exploding even further when the guitarerupts around the 9 minute mark.
If that all wasn't enough, this CDversion has now had added to it, a bonus live track in the form of the trioplaying 'Marie Et Virginie Comp' a 9 minute killer version where the guitarwork takes centre stage as a blistering lead solo blazes an unstoppabletrail of ultimate intensity on top of the massive rhythmic base fromAuger's titanic drum work and the sequencer-like moog bass runs ofGauthier, all combining to produce a track that would even blow away thestrongest Crimso jamming of the '80's/'90's. Way ahead of its time, thissounds amazing here and now, 23 years later, and has to be one of theall-time great tracks that melts electronics, electric guitar and drumsinto one of the most destructive forces of real music on the planet.
HELDON: Interface CD
Here the running time and the sound quality are the same but I prefer theSpalax version as they have remained more true to the cover artwork of theoriginal gatefold album sleeve, although the other does feature twoexcellent photos exclusive to that edition. Both CD's feature two bonuslive tracks not on the original vinyl release, while the running order ofthe tracks, just to be really picky, is true to the album on the Spalaxedition as the other puts the original title track after the two live bonustracks.
Nearly all tracks are played by the trio of Pinhas, Gauthier & Auger, witha guest appearance from Batatrd on bass on the seven minute track four.Musically, it still stands as the finest COMPLETE album they band evermade, and while no single track reaches the giddy heights of 'Stand By' themusic positively glows red hot throughout as the band plays with aconfidence and cohesion that is nothing short of dramatic. With a massiveset of soundscapes revolving around their own unique musical world ofsynths, electric guitars and drums, this is a heady brew of instrumentalrock that takes you places no other bands have ever dared go. While it isscorching and texturally brilliant music, it is also highly melodic anddynamically rhythmic, with some of the most blood-curdling electric guitarwork (Particularly on the 9+ minute 'Jet Girl'), while still retaining theright degree of complexity and accessibility to the music.
This is areal and experienced band playing, and it shows. The combination of phaseddrums, synths, sequencers and cymbals that opens the 19 minute title trackwould send shivers of delight down the spine of many a Krautrock fan, asthe piece gradually lurches into life to produce a massive, stumbling,crashing set of rhythmic foundations over which synths and guitars soar anddive to eye-popping effect. The live tracks (of which the first is NOT thetitle stated and the second is, indeed, a live excerpt from the album'stitle track) illustrate the pure raw power that was the Heldon liveexperience as titanic drums and synths drive the tracks along, with theelectric guitar on fire like no other electronic rock band on the planet,and this just serves as a fitting conclusion to one of the best everreleases of electronic rock music on the planet.
HELDON: Stand By CD
Nothing, but nothing, that had gone before, could have prepared you for thefinal chapter, as it was cast at the time, in the career of this uniqueband. The first half of the album features the 'Bolero' series of tracks,which are the band's own sequence of musical flow, taking that cyclicalpiece of music as the starting point and using it to come up with a wholeseries of mesmerising music that swirls and drives round your head. A shorttrack from the pen of Gauthier is relatively relaxed - the calm before thestorm, for then the title track is upon us, and here we have twelve of thefinest minutes of raging electric guitar in an instrumental that makes thecodas of legendary rock tracks such as 'Free Bird' or any of the guitarhistrionics put down by anyone from McLaughlin to Fripp, sound like alimp-wristed write-off, because this brother smokes - it burns and glows,white-hot, as the rhythm section drives the track forward, Gauthier fillsthe gaps and Pinhas' guitar just soars into a whole new musical dimension,blowing everyone else into oblivion in the process. This is guitar work atits absolute finest and you cannot fail but be haw-dropped in utteramazement every time you hear this track, truly one of the finestinstrumentals of the rock era.
RICHARD PINHAS: Rhizosphere/Live Paris 1982 CD
Originally just the "Rhizosphere" album, but now with the addition, on CD,of over 37 minutes of previously unreleased live music, about which morelater.
First, the album, his debut solo from 1977, most noted for the fact that itwas an all-synths affair with Heldon's Francois Auger on drums on the titletrack, but no guitars in sight. Yet it worked like a charm, and stillsounds fresh, even with the amount of synth music that has been produced inthe last 20+ years. It opens with a piece built around solid sequencerrhythms and undulating moog chords with sweeping space synth backdrops,then into a more relaxed track yet still with the trademark Pinhas feel toit all, as echoed el piano-like chords evaporate slowly, surrounded bybubbling space synths and distant, similarly echoing backdrops, that fadeinto the night as another flowing line comes into being, all very tranquiland yet with a sense of musical adventure never beyond reach. Track threeis a typical piece of swirling Heldon-esque magic, with the synth leadimitating a guitar line as best it can while a river of flowing moogs glideunderneath, relaxed once more yet subtly powerful and great turned way uploud. Track five sees things in an altogether darker place, with slowlygrowling, unfolding layers of deep and thick moog synth textures,gradually travelling and very threatening. The near 18 minute title trackis introduced by phased drums and space synth swoops, and as the drumsbecome clearer and more upfront, so the synths lead into a similarly pacedsequencer line that undulates and dives, while the drums clatter around andcrash like waves on the shore underneath, as the synths change chords andthe piece rolls on, almost cyclical but more forward, with the heart of thetrack maintaining its solid flow while the peripheral synth work flies allaround and the drums provide so much more than a one-dimensional rhythmundertow - altogether a slowly building slice of music that holds yourattention, play after play.
The live tracks take us five years further on, and it would be best if youread the reviews of "Iceland"/ "L'ethique" first.
Then, let me tell you that this is a live recording from a quartet ofex-Magma rhythm section Clement Bailly on drums and Bernard Paganotti onelectric bass, with Gauthier on mini-moog and Pinhas on synths, synthguitar, electric guitar and electronic processing. What you get areessentially extended takes on tracks from the two aforementioned albums,where the band starts off with flowing synth textures and a soaringelectric guitar lead that positively glows before the music is barely intoits stride, as the slowly unfolding guitar solo begins the proceedings.Uninterrupted, linked by a brief burst of samples, the track moves directlyinto the next, as the drums and bass begin to boil, the electric bass justsounding so solid, deep and awesome as only Paganotti can deliver, whilebursts of electric guitar are heard as the bass takes centre stage and thedrums crash all around. Then, out of nowhere, a steaming electric guitarenters and the mighty piece just smokes with its combination of solid bass,storming guitar and crunching drums. A brief track featuring the mini-mooglayers leads directly into the awesome 15 minute 'Coda From The WesternWail' where all the musicians are on fire and the music lights up like abeacon in the night sky. With a further track from "Iceland", this is but aglimpse into the massive musical force that was the early '80's Pinhas bandlive, and the world just begs for a really definitive live album from thisincredible band.
RICHARD PINHAS: Chronolyse CD
Following the debut solo, this one was greeted as a concept album basedaround the science fiction book "Dune", an instrumental work featuring aseven part opener, plus two further tracks. Apart from the last track, allthe music was played on Moog Synthesiser by Pinhas and features plenty ofhis, by now familiar, cyclical synth rhythms, layers and textures,alongside all manner of sequenced rhythms, atmospherics and melodies, butalways music that sounds only his and no-one else could have done thismusic.
The synth work is solid, particularly the sequencer-like rhythmsof various paces and textures that are created and the opening suite is aneat exercise in how to make what are essentially just rhythms andcascading passages both interesting and totally addictive listening. Thesix minute 'Duncan Idaho' is, again, all moog and here takes electronicpercussive light rhythms with more sequencers, slower this time, butbecoming more upfront as a melodic vehicle to superb effect as the trackprogresses.
The final track 'Paul Atreides' is played by Pinhas onguitar, mellotron and ARP electronics plus Didier Batard on bass andlong-time Heldon cohort Francois Auger on drums. It starts with justatmospheric synths to the six minute point and then the rhythm sectionslowly kick in, a majestic set of lead guitar layers soar out of thehorizon and the full-sounding piece with synths, guitars, bass and drums,slowly drives a strong pathway that intensifies effortlessly as it goes, ona brilliant example of restrained power that works a treat to the 21 minutepoint. Then the music dies away to leave a huge layer of synths with spaceyswirls, bass currents, richly textured central rivers and a really 'outthere' quality to the mood of the landscape, as the synths soar and driftand swirl to the end of the track, intensifying greatly for the last threeof its monumental 30 minute running time.
RICHARD PINHAS: Iceland CD
Apart from the inclusion of Francois Auger on drums and Jean-Philippe Goudeon mini-moog on the near 9 minute last track of the original album, thiswas entirely performed solo by Pinhas on electronics and guitars. Markinghis debut release on a UK label too, it came across as something of asurprise, as the tilte summed up the album, which veered towards the sideof soundscaping and layering, albeit in a rhythmic and slowly unfolding,melodic, richly textured manner,. The album as a whole is a lot moredynamic and solid than that description might imply, and even though theguitar as lead was only used sparingly, the electronic and drum-like rhythmbases still shone through as being uniquely Pinhas, with crunchy ratherthan dreamy musical sound paintings, as dynamics are used as the main toolto heighten the tension underlying the musical voyage, a vast iceflow on apurposeful journey. Even on the trio played track, the music remainsrestrained, and the whole album is a masterpiece of studied restraint assoundscapes are laid down and the album flows like no other before. For itsCD issue, there has been added a previously unreleased 22 minute trackcalled 'Winter Music' performed solo by Pinhas on polymoog and its his owntake on cosmic synth music, totally in keeping with the feel of the album,as a new space epic unfolds.
RICHARD PINHAS: East West CD
I had the privilege of visiting Pinhas while he was actually in the studiolaying down music for what turned into this album and I remember beingabsolutely knocked out by the music he was playing back to me. A long timelater, the album appeared and, what a major disappointment. Now, nearly 20years on, it still comes across as an album going in 3 differentdirections, but, apart from the vain attempt at a 'commercial single' thatis 'West Side' (which is still embarrassingly cliched), the music is stillpretty fine. The majority of the tracks are shorter than what he'd beenknown for previously, nearly al instrumental and mostly quite atmosphericwith a cover of Bowie/Eno's 'Sense Of Doubt' from the "Low" album plus aclutch of melodic, dynamic, synths-driven instrumentals with el drum andsequencer rhythms sparkling away under synth lead melodies and theoccasional more subdued guitar layers.
Even so, this remains the mostreflective of the '70's/'80's albums, and much of its music is so emotionalas to bring a tear to the eye in tracks such as 'La Ville Sans Nom' or'Paris: Beautiful May'. The album opens and closes with two parts of onetrack and the Heldon band in flying form, the Pinhas guitar wailing away onthe final track. I really must remember to ask Richard one day, if itreally was the album he meant it to be when he started. However, in thiscase, that's not the end of the story. As a bonus, the album contains 5bonus tracks that just have to be live versions of tracks largely takenfrom the album AFTER "East West", even though it doesn't say anything aboutthem on the sleeve and the sound quality is absolutely mixing deskexcellence. Clearly featuring ex-Magma bassist Bernard Paganotti, this isthe Pinhas Band live and kicking, with a set of tracks including ajaw-dropping 15+ minute rendition of 'Last Coda From The Western Wail' withbone-crunching bass and wailing guitar leads to stir the blood while thesynths and drums drive the track along in all its full-sounding glory,overall, a perfect complement to the tranquillity of the preceding studiotracks, and 75 minutes, bar one track, of French supremacy.
RICHARD PINHAS: L'ethique CD
If 'Stand By' is classed as a landmark track, then, without question, thisstands as his landmark album, for this still remains the jewel in the crownof the Pinhas career, as a complete album. Using guest artists that readlike a 'who's who' of Heldon/Pinhas music, namely Bernard Paganotti,Clement Bailly, Jean-Philippe Goude, Patrick Gauthier and GeorgesGrunblatt, with Gillles Deleuze on track seven (of nine), this started offsuperbly with a track featuring lurching rhythms, crystal clear synthbackdrops and one of those trademark flying guitar solos that soars highinto the skies. Then track two begins and the sound of strong and streamingelectric bass, drums, synths and electric guitar can be heard scorching outof the speakers, like some molten music furnace on the verge of goingsuperheated....and then it does, as the chord change heralds the arrival ofa new rhythm pace and even more rich synth layers and solid electronic bassbooming out of the airwaves as the music builds and builds, layer uponlayer. Track three gives us a 4 minute respite from the heat with asynths-dominated piece of pastoral beauty, before track four begins, andthe bass sounds even more fierce with swathes of guitars and tinkling keysheard over rolling, crunching drum rhythms. From below, a distant electricguitar figure emerges, still distant at first over the growling electricbass, but gradually coming closer, only to disappear once more into itslair as the synths see out the piece.
Then comes the amazing anthemictrack five, where Pinhas unleashes one of THE most emotional electricguitar solos heard on any album, flying high above the musical backdrop ofsynth bass, drums and multi-synth layers, entering at JUST the right pintand soaring high above to majestic effect as the rhythms and synths driveforward. Track five features sequencers, synths, bass and drums, likeTangerine Dream on speed, with a scorching guitar solo thrown in for goodmeasure as the whole piece flies down the universal highway. Tracks sevenand eight are synths dominated with the former being more textural butstill plenty going on, while the latter takes us back to the spirit andfeel of the glory days of Heldon. A brief synth piece precedes the arrivalof the manic final track where a steaming hot guitar solo burns furiouslyabove the rampaging drums, huge bass undertow and synth fills, ending abrilliant album in suitably dramatic and intense fashion with synth andguitar solos duelling long into the night as the rhythm section crashesever onwards.
RICHARD PINHAS: DWW CD
The album that brought Pinhas back into the public consciousness for thefirst time in nearly ten years, and, at the time, regarded by those whowere expecting an album to blow their heads off, as a bit of adisappointment. Now, a few years on, this works a lot more because once youtreat it as part of the ongoing Pinhas music history, it falls into placequite neatly. Recorded between 1983 and 1991, this marks the reunificationof Pinhas, with musician friends Jean-Philippe Goude from the previous liveline-up), Patrick Gauthier and, on one track, Alain Bellaich. Musically, itreprises several themes from previous Pinhas albums, and the thing younotice most is that it has all the full-sounding and melodic qualities butwithout the explosive firepower of works like "L'ethique". Once you realisethis, you actually also see that the album flows well and that it's muchmore synths-based than many of the previous albums, with the synth workbeing more 'tuneful' (or perhaps 'modern') than on many of the earlieralbums, thus making this probably the ideal album for synth aficionados whowant to ease themselves more gently into the potentially rewarding musicalworlds of Pinhas/Heldon. All the tracks are melodic, with a multi-layeredsound, the electric guitar only being whipped out on two tracks, and eventhen, fairly restrained.
So, essentially a synth album, inventive yet,for Pinhas, positively 'commercial', and a splendid intro for the timid orwary fan-in-waiting.
RICHARD PINHAS & JOHN LIVENGOOD: Cyborg Sally CD
From 1994, largely a duo performance (guest on odd tracks including AntoinePaganotti, Patrick Gauthier, Didier batard, Angel Freddy & Duncan Nilsson),and proof, at last, that the Pinhas we knew and loved, was still alive andwell, musically, physically and mentally. Also fairly co-written withLivengood (from the Spacecraft group - see review further on - and then ofsolo tape-only release fame), the two musicians played electronics,sampling, guitars and digital processing, and in the process, came up withan instrumental album that recalled the glory days of the '80's band buttook it all into the production ideas departments of the '90's, even moresolid, even more cohesive and with a huge, huge sound that often threatensto engulf the unwary listener. Yet the music is crystal clear, as strong asa diamond and shines like a jewel-encrusted tiara in a blaze of spotlights.With over 70 minutes of music across ten glorious tracks, you'll find sucha wealth of musical ideas, it would be impossible to describe in detail ina short space of writing. Suffice to say, they run the whole gamut ofexpression from spacey yet solid soundscaping to all-out attack withguitars, electronics and samples blazing, mostly with the button set on'intense' but never overbearing or bombastic. Along the way, you can hearelements of many a Heldon/Pinhas album from the early '70's to the '80's,but all served in an entirely original and fresh setting that is decidedlyPinhas but with a perfect partner in crime in the form of Livengood, and arenewed sense of spirit and vitality. Probably one of the most underratedand overlooked albums of the career to date.
RICHARD PINHAS:Cyborg Sally CD Single
You don't buy this for the 'exclusive vocal version of the title track; youdon't even buy this for the industrial track 2. But you buy this to her a10+ min live version of the classic instrumental 'Stand By', also exclusiveto this disc. It opens with a thunderous military rhythm from the drumsover which a thickly textured guitar drives through the musical maelstromand gradually starts to solo over the huge rhythm and nuclear-forcebackdrop that constitutes the foundations of the track. You are witness tothe most industrial strength Pinhas music and it will blow you away.
RICHARD PINHAS:De L'un Et Multiple CD
As Audion mag rightly stated, it's about time we had a solo guitar albumfrom Pinhas where he pursues his own brand of what has come to be termed'Frippertronics', in the form of acres of layers of guitar textures, onlyhere it's a lot more of a warm sound, altogether more organic and enticing,creating a vast set of soundscapes that you will really love.
RICHARD PINHAS: Schizotrope CD
Described as 'French readings of Gilles Deleuze's philosophy withmetatronic music and vocal processors'. Now this might not exactly enticeyou to try this album, but I've heard it and, bar one track, it works atreat, and that track is only a few minutes long. Most of the vocals areheavily treated but there are vast acres of the CD where it's just Pinhasand his guitars/electronics in a musical territory that, more often thannot, hearkens back to the atmospherics and flavours of the first couple ofHeldon albums. Overall, the mood is one unique to Pinhas' music and the CD,somewhat surprisingly, comes highly recommended but just don't expect anyexplosive leads or powerful rhythms - the atmosphere is the key to thesuccess of the album and there's loads of that.
RICHARD PINHAS/PETER FROHMADER: Fossil Culture CD
Ladeez and gentlemen - in the blue corner, on synths, samplers and 5-stringelectric bass guitar, the thunderous, the awesome power of....PeterFrohmader. In the red corner, on Roland electric guitars, burning anapalm-infused path to infinity, legendary Heldon guitarist Richard Pinhas.
Round one - Pinhas opens with a smouldering guitar texture/riff. Frohmadercounters with a gigantic, stumbling electro-percussive rhythm which forcesPinhas to turn up the heat and deliver a molten slice of red hot guitarsoloing. Frohmader is forced to gather up his arsenal and throw the worksat Pinhas and, amid a hail of deep, pounding electric bass and a wall ofsynth/organ layers, Frohmader aims an almighty blow. The two fighters lockhorns and go all-out in an inferno of sonic splendour, blow afterpercussive blow met with storming, steaming electric guitar leads; even themonumental bass attack can't stop the guitarist. After nearly 10 minutes,Pinhas gives ground as Frohmader reveals an entire synth choir behind him.One last time, Pinhas seizes the guitar and hurls an entire army ofspiralling riffs and leads at Frohmader, who has no counter for this andfalls away, defeated, leaving the tired but still smouldering strains ofPinhas' guitar wailing into the night sky.
That, my friends, is but the first near 12 minute track on a 7-part, 71+minute suite that takes up this entire album. The rest of the tracks followan equally mighty musical path and are everything you would expect (andmore) from a two year instrumental collaboration between one of the world'sleading electric guitarists and one of the world's finest electricbassists/rhythm programmers. The best Pinhas release since the glory daysof Heldon's "Standby". Incendiary, musically consistent, cohesive withseven tracks from 6 to 16 minutes in length and one of the most powerful,dynamic and totally mind-blowing releases you'll hear in 1999.
Also worth your attention:
SPACECRAFT: Paradoxe CD
Here because it was the only LP released by the duo of recent Pinhas musiccollaborator, synth musician John Livengood, and guitarist Ivan Coaquette,who was best known at the time (mid-late '70's) for his duo Fondation withvocalist Annankha Raghel, and whose works have still to see the light ofday on CD. The original 39 minute album has been augmented by a near 12minute previously unreleased track from 1973. Using a vast array of synths,guitars and effects pedals/devices, this is synths/guitar music that is inno way indicative of the more tune-based stuff coming out of othercountries. Melodic, definitely, but using constructions that were unique tothis group and, to an extent, unique to a lot of the synth music coming outof France at the time, and just because it was strange, sometimes a littleshrill, occasionally a little stark, yet always totally new, fresh-soundingand creative, it never got the recognition it deserved.
Now in the'90's it still sounds almost discordant in places, owing more to the likesof Terry Riley, Steve Reich and 'systems music' than to the likes ofT.Dream, Agitation Free, etc. This is the sound of a duo creating a richand unusual array of musical paths textures and soundscapes that, as Isaid, is melodic in terms of the music being created, yet it is the actualsound of the music that may unnerve you at times. Unafraid to whip up amusical storm only then to play it more celestial on the next track orsegment, this is a strange and mysterious musical world for the adventurouslistener. The bonus track is the earliest and possibly the most accessible,being nearly 12 minutes of space music in the vein of Tangerine Dream's"Zeit" opus only deeper, darker and more addictive soundscapes.
Back to Review Highlights Intro Page
Email CD Services
Dead Earnest
CDS Home Page
