heldon: stand by

Souffle Continu Records present a reissue of Heldon's Stand By, originally released in 1979. Richard Pinhas began by absorbing Jimi Hendrix as an adolescent, leaving that behind at the beginning of the 1970s, after having heard what Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock were doing with synthesizers, and then discovering the seminal duo Fripp and Eno. It was one year on from this epiphany that the first album by Heldon was released (1974). The main idea was to rock and roll on electronic machines. Richard Pinhas was of course playing electric guitar, but was also interested in the A.R.P. and VCS 3, to the point of purchasing the Moog 3 owned by the Beatles. In order to do so, he had to sell of the Disjuncta label -- the first totally independent French label -- he had created in order to release Schizo (1972), Alain Renaud and Heldon. This was the beginning of the 1970s. Heldon had already released four key albums and left their home studio for Davout, beginning a trilogy starting with the sound of 1976's Un Rêve Sans Conséquence Spéciale, continuing with 1977's Interface, and concluding with Stand By. When Stand By was released, the press had already labeled Heldon as the first electric punk group. There is nothing silly in that, Heldon having quickly moved away from the spacey German influences which were not to Richard Pinhas's taste. This can be heard on Stand By, the lynchpin of which is the twenty minutes of sound and fury of "Boléro", something of a high-point from the group which owes much to the sequencers of the "technician" Didier Badez. As on the two previous releases, the ever-faithful Patrick Gauthier, François Auger, and Didier Batard were present. For one track, Klaus Blasquiz sings and highlights the underlying links between Heldon, Magma, and Weidorje, but also a shared past experience in Blues Convention with Richard Pinhas. After two solo albums, East West (1980) and L'Éthique (1982), Richard Pinhas dropped everything, through fear of repeating himself, even selling off some of his equipment, before coming back to center-stage with DWW (1992), following a sabbatical decade centered on philosophy, skiing, and paragliding. Thus, Stand By can be seen as the end of an era for Heldon. High quality mastering from Richard Pinhas's original masters; Licensed from Richard Pinhas. Obi strip; matte printing. Sea blue vinyl; Edition of 700.