Here's an instance where the title really lives up to the substance of the album. This latest solo effort from Richard Pinhas, guitarist and leader of the famed French prog legends Heldon, is an all-instrumental affair of processed guitar explorations. Much like Robert Fripp's soundscape CD's, Events and Repetitions is more like background music than anything else, filled with waves of sonic ambience, blips and flutters, most of the time not resembling anything sounding remotely like an electric guitar. While much of this kind of monotonous "repetition" will bore some listeners, Pinhas manages to create huge walls of sonic sound, that at times is very ominous sounding and similar to early Tangerine Dream. His guitar is pouring out so many different cascades of sounds, as on the near 30 minute "GSYBE (thanks to)", that you would swear that he had a few keyboard players helping him out.
So, if you like heavily processed guitar sounds (no soloing going on here folks) featuring neat noodling and big scary themes, this will be right up your alley. I was left thinking that Events and Repetitions would make a great soundtrack to a horror movie, as there are plenty of creepy moments here in the grand tradition of Tangerine Dream or even Goblin. A decent CD to spin when you want to fill your brain with unique sounds, or simply want to create an unsettling mood on a dark rainy night.