French, Parisian experimental guitarist Richard Pinhas will be ever associated with Heldon, the seminal art-space-rock band he founded and led in the seventies. The prolific Pinhas collaborated in recent years with like-minded adventurous sonic explorers like Merzbow, Tatsuya Yoshida, Oren Ambarchi, and Wolf Eyes. On «Quentin Compson» he enjoys the company of another like-minded comrade, American Stephen O’Malley from Sunn O))) on the producer seat, who hosted him for a session in his Acid Quarry’s radio show.

Pinhas is a man with many interests. He has a Ph.D in Philosophy from the Sorbonne, well-versed in the Jewish Kabbalah, as well as in the writings of American writer Thomas Pynchon. Somehow, these interests are channeled into the enigmatic pieces of «Quentin Compson», named after the fictional character created by writer William Faulkner (in novels «The Sound and the Fury» and «Absalom, Absalom!» And few short stories), and recorded in Pinhas studio in 2018.

The three pieces are effects-laden drones, beginning as meditative and quiet pieces, but soon are layered and looped into deep, atmospheric space where some unsettling noises, including some Star Wars-tinged shooting effects, are drawn into the mix. The sound of the Pinhas electric guitar is manipulated and sculpted into a rich, alien sonic entity, in a similar manner to the drones of Sunn O))) but only the second piece it comes close to the metallic and feedback overtones identified with Sunn O))). Pinhas host synthesizer player Eric Beriot on the short, third piece, the most peaceful peace here, and the closest one to the ambient pieces of Robert Fripp.

Eyal Hareuveni

Richard «Heldon» Pinhas (g), Eric Beriot (synth)

Teaser album de Richard Pinhas "Quentin Compson" from Godefroy de MAUPEOU on Vimeo.