A Greek psych-rock band's 40-year slumber, interrupted by a call from Kanye's people.
In 1976, four young friends from Athens form the band "The 4 Levels of Existence". They compose, rehearse in improvised music studios, and record their first and only album, realizing their own musical "revolution". In the ensuing years this "revolution" was gradually forgotten, as normality and the everyday obligations of adult life took over. Their album, however, followed a unique and remarkable course: from the shelves of a few Athenian record stores it reached collectors from all over the world, as well as the ears of music producers in the US. In 2009, representatives from the record company of renowned American rappers Kanye West and Jay-Z contacted Athanasios Alatas, member of the band and composer of several songs of the album, asking him for permission to use part of a song from the "4 Levels of Existence" record.
Direction
Danezi treats DIY rehearsal footage like sacred artifacts.
Production
The 2009 phone call — documentary gold, perfectly preserved awkwardness.
Director
Iliana Danezi
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The band's 1976 self-titled album now fetches hundreds of euros among collectors; original pressings include a now-iconic hand-drawn cover.
The Kanye/Jay-Z inquiry represents a broader pattern of hip-hop producers mining obscure global psych-rock — see also Dilla, Madlib, and Kanye's own 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy' samples. The documentary quietly asks who profits when buried treasures get excavated.
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