RE:GENERATION Mixes Things Up

It is no secret that I tend to steer clear of electronic music. When I get email that says "remix" anywhere in the subject, they go largely unread and certainly not listened to. Chase has recently started writing about some of these things...dub and DnB and such because- I know I'm gonna sound just like my mom- but to me it all sounds the same and I don't like it. But sometimes I try. I went to IDentity Festival last year, have seen Crystal Method a grip of times, and while watching the GRAMMYS, tried to embrace that Skrillex, after performing at Petco Park last year, is probably someone to pay attention to (even if the 130bpm set rejects him as their representative.) I get that it is a cultural phenomenon and by many predictions, the future of music. Though to the initiated, that's probably like when people say "with the advent of the internet" after we've all been online for 20 years. In large parts it can be argued that is the present of music. I still believe in a voice & a guitar, but I find the culture shift fascinating nonetheless, even if I shake my head and mutter, "kids these days"...

That said, I was given the opportunity to screen a documentary called RE:GENERATION. The film is largely supported by the GRAMMYS foundation, so it is worth bearing in mind, but I found the film to be completely intriguing. The premise is this: take five producers, give them a genre to explore, have them assemble musicians within the genre and create something brand new out of something old. Mark Ronson was assigned Jazz, Pretty Lights got Country, Crystal Method got R&B/Motown, Skrillex got Rock, and my personal favorite, DJ Premier was given Classical.

The film documents the learning and exploration by each producer as they delve into their genre, scouring record stores, meeting people with expertise in the genre. While Skrillex worked with The Doors and Mark Ronson worked with Erykah Badu, Trombone Shorty, and the Dap Kings, they didn't seem to require such a stretch of imagination that it took for DJ Premier to work as an actual conductor with the Berklee School of Music or Pretty Lights trying to get Dr. Ralph Stanley to deliver a song the way he wanted. ("I'd rather just do it my way.")

The film follows the entire recording process, and in the end, the tracks are revealed, edited with studio footage and festival footage of the "live" debut, including some scenes of Skrillex at Petco Park from last fall and The Crystal Method at last summer's IDentity Festival at Cricket Wireless Amphitheater.

The film is screening in select cities, including San Diego, this Thursday, February 16 and if you're a fan of music of ANY genre, I promise this is a documentary that will open your eyes and ears.

Get ticket & showtime information here. 

Poway Creekside Plaza 10
13475 Poway Road
Poway, CA 92064

Mission Valley Cinemas
7510 Hazard Center Drive
San Diego, CA 92108

Mission Marketplace 13
431 College Boulevard
Oceanside, CA 92057

San Clemente Cinema 6
641 B Camino de los Mares
San Clemente, CA 92673



More information and videos from all of the final songs after the jump.

Produced in association with The Grammys, the film looks at the history, songwriting and studio process of different musical genres through the eyes of five of the most influential electronic producers/DJs in music today, who write and record a brand new track with a grouping of influential collaborators in that genre. The tag line for the film is “5 DJ’s Turn the Table of the History of Music.” The stories of these five DJs are documented in RE:GENERATION.

In the film, current five-time GRAMMY®-nominated artist Skrillex heads into a Los Angeles studio with members of the iconic rock band The Doors to collaborate on a new song, “Breakn’ A Sweat.” Meanwhile, The Crystal Method touched down in Detroit to work with Martha Reeves of The Vandellas and The Funk Brothers on the R&B number “I’m Not Leaving.” Mark Ronson created a southern brew of New Orleans jazz in “A La Modeliste” that boasts a veritable all-star cast of Erykah Badu, Trombone Shorty, Mos Def, Zigaboo Modeliste and Members of The Dap Kings. DJ Premier tapped NAS and Boston's very own Berklee Symphony Orchestra for his “Regeneration,” and the documentary culminates in Nashville on the dusty, intergalactic twang of Pretty Lights' "Wayfaring Stranger" featuring vocals from LeAnn Rimes and Dr. Ralph Stanley.

DJ Premier — Classical — “Regeneration” (with NAS and the Berklee Symphony Orchestra)



Pretty Lights — Country — “Wayfaring Stranger” (with Dr. Ralph Stanley and LeAnn Rimes)



Mark Ronson — Jazz — “A La Modeliste” (with Erykah Badu, Mos Def, Trombone Shorty, members of the Dap Kings and Zigaboo Modeliste)



Skrillex — Rock — “Breakn’ A Sweat” (with members of The Doors)



The Crystal Method — R&B — “I’m Not Leaving” (with Martha Reeves of the Vandellas and the Funk Brothers)

Learn Something New Every Day

The other night I ran into my friend Greg from Dead Feather Moon and we got into a pretty intense conversation about the music industry, both on a local level and on a massive scale. Somehow in the conversation I mentioned that my TV is broken and so I've been addicted to programs available online, and he recommended a couple documentaries to watch free on HULU. I thought they were pretty cool so I wanted to pass them on. The first, Before the Music Dies (2007), takes a look at pop culture and juxtaposes the power of labels and radio conglomerates versus new ways of finding music. "Never have so few companies controlled so much of the music played on the radio and for sale at retail stores. At the same time, there are more bands and more ways to discover their music than ever." Steve Poltz makes an appearance in this one, too. The second, RiP! A Remix Manifesto,(2009) "explores the complexities of intellectual property in the era of peer-to-peer file sharing," specifically by using Girl Talk as a case study in copyright. Both films predate Spotify, have no mention of Pandora or Slacker or rdio or "the Cloud", but both are pretty interesting.

One underlying thread in both is how drastically the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and the Copyright Term Extension Act were really Congressional gifts to the major corporations holding massive lobbying power while as consumers got reamed financially and intellectually...the very thing Occupy Wall Street is standing against if you expand the reach beyond just the banks and the auto manufacturers.

The final film I've added here is Under Our Skin, a look at Lyme Disease. While seemingly unrelated, when you connect the dots and look at what our government allows to be trademarked and patented by Big Pharma, and how they're in cahoots with insurers to do everything they can to keep you sick and avoid paying your medical care, well, after you watch all three, I'd recommend going to watch the Muppets or you just might wanna jump off a bridge when you really think about how fucked we really are. Incidentally, my HULU queue now has almost 50 documentaries in it, so if you see me talking to myself on a street corner ranting conspiracy theories, you'll know why. All three films are embedded after the jump.