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French progressive-rock guitarist and electronica forefather Richard Pinhas (pictured) is an egghead. We’re talking a four-egg-omelet intellectual: Besides once leading ’70s avant-rockers Heldon, Pinhas holds a doctorate in philosophy from the Sorbonne. His latest project makes one wonder if Pinhas’ brain isn’t a bit scrambled: He has undertaken a U.S. mini-tour in tribute to his famous former philosophy teacher, Gilles Deleuze, accompanied only by his guitar, an arsenal of effects, and cyberpunk author Maurice Dantec. But Pinhas has always followed his own muse. In 1974, when it was still difficult to start an independent label, he formed his own record company, Disjuncta, to release records by Heldon. Through every trend, Pinhas has never strayed from making mind-expanding music, from Heldon’s edgy King Crimson-influenced jazz rock to his numerous solo records of Robert Fripp-ian guitar-tronics and Brian Eno-esque loop-the-loops. Pinhas & Dantec’s soon-to-be-released CD, Le Plan, is a dark-toned drone in honor of Deleuze, whose theories have deeply influenced electronic artists like DJ Spooky and Aphex Twin. See the egg from which much of today’s head music hatched when Pinhas & Dantec are joined by Virginia’s finest wall-of-sound constructors, Pelt, at 8 p.m. Saturday, March 20, at Phantasmagoria, 11319 Elkin St., Wheaton. $10. (301) 949-8886. (Christopher Porter)