Heldon were an extraordinary act, a progressive rock band from the 1970s whose music embraced ideas of philosophy, science fiction and radical politics to an alien soundtrack influenced by experimental electronics and the guitar explorations of King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp.
The band made a powerful sound, quite unlike others that were using synths in that period, their aggressive and dark style mixing earthy guitar with a strange and unearthly electronics, predating and influencing much of the industrial and electronic music genre that emerged at the end of the 70s and in the 80s.
The band centred on guitarist Richard Pinhas, who was a student working for a Philosophy Phd in Paris in '68 where he became influenced by French philosopher Gilles Deleuze. This track Le Voyageur sees the band collaborating with Deleuze, reciting work by Nietzsche.
The track was originally released as a seven inch single in 1970 under the name Schizo, the band's original name, and given away free. A version also appeared on their debut album, 1974's Electronique Guérilla with the title Ouais Marchais mieux qu'en 68
There would be seven albums released under the Heldon name in the 70s, Allez Teia in '74, It's Always Rock 'n' Roll in 75, Agneta Nilsson in '76, Un Rêve Sans Conséquence Spéciale in '76, Interface in '77 and the final being 1979's Stand By, which featured the extraordinary 22 minute Bolero suite.
Pinhas would also release two solo albums (Rhizosphère in '77 and Chronlyse in '78) before the final Heldon album. Subsequent releases would come out under his name, and his solo material is no less interesting than his Heldon releases.Personal favourites are 1980's Iceland and 1992's DWW. The Heldon name was resurrected for 2001's Only Chaos is Real.
Pinhas remains active, recent work includes material released under the Schizotrope name that saw him working with cyber-punk author Maurice Dantec and more recent collaborations with Japan's Merzbow. He has also continued to release solo works - most recently Metal/Crystal released in autumn 2010, and he continues to perform live with North American dates scheduled for May 2011.
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