I was in Berlin, finishing the GDC 2 mix at Guillaume’s studio in Neukölln. On the first day, we went to Staalplaat, and Guillaume bought a Pharoah Chromium picture disc. He was happy to be able to do it, as Ghazi usually gives him all his records before he has a chance to pay for them. We went home, and listened to it, followed by the just issued “Quatre heures à Chatila” 7”.
I wanted to buy it. Immediately. Wouldn’t leave the town without it.
Press play on “X”, and you’ll see why.
So, we met, and, as is the tradition in Kreuzberg, talked about music while drinking beers.
Ghazi told us he saw Marshall Allen play an electronic saxophone at an Arkestra concert and decided to do the same. He also said that the single was an extract from a spoken-word album that several labels have declined to issue.
The hardest part of my "job" is to keep a poker face when I hear sentences like this. I probably failed: it was obvious to everyone that I wanted to release the album when we split.
A concept album based on a cult 60s Japanese art movie: Clark Gable was the obvious choice for the cover art.
It turned out that Clark knows Ghazi very well. He loves his music, and he’s invited him to do a Lapin Kult, the radio shows he does with Erik Minkkinen. They actually both went to Ghazi’s Kreuzberg flat to record it.
I’ve said it once, and I’ll probably say it again: sometimes running a label is very easy.
www.discogs.com/fr/Pharoah-Chromium-Jean-Genet-Quatre-heures-Chatila/release/12555537
www.mixcloud.com/Lapin_Kult/lapin-kult-129/