Michael Draine's Twisted Vista
Richard Pinhas
Iceland
(Cuneiform)
Still unknown in America, guitarist/electronic
musician Richard Pinhas stands as a pivotal
figure in the evolution of French progressive
rock, both as a solo artist and as the leader
of Heldon (1974-78). On his third solo release,
Iceland (1979), Pinhas opts for a cool and
refined sonic palette, with glacial drones
forming out of winter-night silence. Only twice
on Iceland does Pinhas cut loose with his
searing, Fripp-influenced guitar, sparring with
a rhythm track that sounds like the mad
workings of some monstrous clock on the
two-part “Last Kings of Thule.” Despite the		Music Review Index
distinct identity of each of Iceland’s eight
tracks, every segment is integral to the whole,
each contributing to a sense of progress
through a silent, mysterious realm. A gently
propulsive sequencer track counterpoints a
haunting melody on the concluding “Greenland,”
inducing visions of frozen fjords glimpsed
from the frosted window of an Arctic express.
The 25-minute bonus track “Wintermusic”
proves most delectable. A 1983 synthesizer
improvisation with delay loop, “Wintermusic”
bathes the listener in wave after wave of
placid, shimmering sound. The range of
expression Pinhas elicits from a single timbre
in this piece stands as an object lesson in an
era when synthesizers come with up to a
thousand factory presets. Subtle, remote, and
entrancing, Iceland is the work of an artist
at the height of his creative power, in full
control of his chosen media.
published in Progression #4, 1993
www.cuneiformrecords.com