This was
Heldon
's last studio release, although the reissued
Rhizosphere
CD includes a 1982
concert recording with slightly different personnel.
Stand By
features the classic trio lineup of the brilliant
Francois Auger
on percussion,
Patrick Gauthier
on keyboards and
Pinhas
on guitars, keyboards and electronics, with some additional assistance from
Didier Batard
on bass,
Didier Badez
on sequencers and
Klaus Blasquiz
doing voices. The two long pieces on the CD are an interesting contrast. The title piece starts with some nasty distorted fuzz guitar from
over ponderous, menacing bass and drums.
King Crimson
at its most aggressive could be considered a model, but this track is also very close to the so-called "zheul" sound of
Magma
, another French
prog-rock
band of the period, which shared
Pinhas'
interest in science fiction motifs, among other things. Later in the piece, the band switches gears somewhat with a slightly quicker tempo, but then after a minutes settles back into a grinding, heavy metal sound. After a short and much jauntier electronic interlude comes the second long piece,
"Bolero,"
which uses the well-known Spanish rhythm in an opening section, but then moves into a long space jam which is anchored by a strong sequencer pulse. The result is some very effective "kosmiche" space music, much in the vein of early
Klaus Schulze
. From a later vantage point, the musical style here is quite familiar, but what makes
's piece a superior thing of its kind is
Auger
's imaginative percussion,
loose, soaring guitar improvisation on top of the precise electronics, and the general interplay among musicians and between acoustic, electric and electronic instruments. Not cookie-cutter stuff by any means, this piece gives the German audionauts such as
Schulze
and
Tangerine Dream
some worthy competition. ~ Bill Tilland