Uproot: Travels in 21st-Century Music and Digital Culture

by Jace Clayton

In 2001 Jace Clayton was an unknown DJ who recorded a three-turntable, sixty-minute mix and put it online to share with friends. Within weeks, Gold Teeth Thief became an international calling card, whisking Clayton away to play a nightclub in Zagreb, a gallery in Osaka, a former brothel in Sao Paolo, and the American Museum of Natural History. Just as the music world made its fitful, uncertain transition from analog to digital, Clayton found himself on the front lines of creative upheavals of art production in the twenty-first century globalized world.

Uproot is a guided tour of this newly-opened cultural space. With humor, insight, and expertise, Clayton illuminates the connections between a Congolese hotel band and the indie-rock scene, Mexican rodeo teens and Israeli techno, and Whitney Houston and the robotic voices is rural Moroccan song, and offers an unparalleled understanding of music in the digital age.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Memoir, Journalism, Sociology, Cultural, Essays

288 pages, Paperback

First published July 5, 2016

Reviews

[Peter Hollo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been an admirer of Jace Clayton's work since he put the first DJ /rupture mix GOLD TEETH THIEF mix up for download. A superior tastemaker, he's also an extremely astute observer of technology, culture and human behaviour, and all that comes out in this focused collection of essays exploring the way digital (and analogue) technologies interact with different strata of different cultures.
He doesn't shy away from the potentially deleterious effects of technological change - especially when drive by corporate interests - but he presents a consistently upbeat view, especially when observing how technologies are upended and creatively misused.

[Eliot · Rating 3 out of 5]

although he mentions a lot of fascinating subcultures, and this is a great place to find starting points for hours on youtube or spotify, uproot is ultimately self-indulgent - Clayton seems to be trying to convince us of how cool he is, with a scoreboard of 'scenes' he's infiltrated, rather than make any overarching point. Am i just jealous? Maybe.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Number of times this book made me cry: four.

I intend to re-read it to capture the most wonderful quotes.

[Mallory Caswell · Rating 4 out of 5]

really fun i liked how he wrote it through his own thoughts + feelings and it was really funny at some points too😋

i learnt a lot but it was also an interesting read of his travels and how he picks up his music

my fave chapter was the was all about berber music and the final chapter where he was in lebanon and came across a music shop that archived all Palestinian music and everyone was trying to impress him with their music choices
just sounded really sweet🥹

he’s such an interesting guy i bet he has a story for everything
i would deffo read some more of his books
and it’s so applicable to my module this was so beneficial YAY😜😜😜💖💖💖💖

[Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sonar festival, Barcelona 2017. I didn't know what I was watching but it made so much sense. Musicians and musical styles from around the globe converging under an electronic music umbrella. "Look, a Scottish cellist...and beats", as a young Scottish reveller amidst the international crowd I was proud, and captivated, by Nettle. I'd heard of DJ Rupture from online blogs and various late night BBC radio appearances but this was my first time experiencing one of his all-encompassing musical projects in the flesh. And now here he is with a book about his musical journeys across the globe, and a healthy dose of outsider take on the industry as a whole.

This book reads fresh to the day, 2024, and considering it is almost ten years old and covers the evolution of digital music culture (a fast moving online evolution) it is testament to Clayton's writing that it stands that test of time. I've yearned to read something like this for a long time as most other written content about this 'scene' or music world is either paywalled, sponsored, devoid of critique or typed by journalists affiliated with fizzy sugar energy drinks. 'Uproot' is an inspiring outlier from an independent voice.

[Maciek · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read for every person interested in this weird thing called 'world music'. There's a lot of traveling, listening, DJing, preaching, criticizing, and commenting here. And yes, a contemporary music business is extremely complicated.

[Tristan Bath · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jace Clayton talking about music is just a joy to read. Not only is he full of great little nuggets from a career as a DJ, traveller, and musical explorer - he’s a motivational speaker teaching us about how wonderful our era of music making is! Leave out the money, and we live in the most creative and explosive era for a new and truly global musical landscape, where the global South and North can create with equal ease. There’s a lot here to learn about - above all how to be optimistic about the 21st century’s music. Inspiring!

[Ángel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I live for this type of book. Reads like fiction but it's not. Comes with a listening guide - I love a listening guide.

Sure, it starts a little self indulgent, but the prose flows beautifully as you start to fall in love with the stories, the people, the descriptions without describing, and the commentary.

I love a book that forces me to put it down so I can do research. Look up names, pictures, sounds, websites. It's the perfect rabbit hole for a music nerd.

I saw the author speaking at an event at Pioneer Works last year and I found him somewhat boring. After reading this book suddenly I'm a fan. We should all know someone like Jace Clayton. What a gift this book is.

[Katie Pruden · Rating 4 out of 5]

So so so interesting. And— with great prose too

[Michael Sedor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Open all borders

[Chris Marmo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full of rich vignettes examining the intersections of music, technology and culture. I really liked the threading and layering of autobiography, travelogue reportage and nearly-academic writing, but found that the moments of self-awareness through the book were occasionally self-serving. The author does call out his positionality to some degree, but I would have liked him to spend more time being explicitly reflective about his own case as a taste-maker and cultural flaneur, now author and self-positioned cultural mediator. What does he make of this persona? And it surely is one that's been cultivated.

For all it's beautiful threads I finished this book being a little unsure about where Clayton stands on this, and a number of other issues he raises through the book - what does he actually think of corporate sponsorships? Is M.I.A actually a sell-out or just an always-already opportunistic bricoleur? A singular opinion on these things may be there, but I feel like he took a bet each way on most issues. Given the ethos of the topic, that's probably the point.

The writing on the various places and societies he selects to include are where this book excels. The self-assuredness of the writing meant I felt like I'd learned a lot from the book - I have a list of bands and artists to research. Still, I'm not really sure what the author learned in writing it.

[K · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read a lot of music books, but Clayton's take on the present state of music is astute and will no doubt wind its way into my teaching and scholarship. I especially loved the chapters on Red Bull and Tribal.

[Jack Duff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Long-form music journalism is hard to come by these days, and full volumes of music-focused nonfiction that aren’t historical or biographical are nearly nonexistent. I didn’t expect much of Uproot, and was expecting more of a discussion of Napster and Pitchfork like all the other “21st-century music” books. I was very wrong - this collection is a vibrant, energetic approach to the very concept of music, through the exploration of global dance music, electronic and otherwise.

I can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t find something to love here. Open-format DJ? You’ll love and take professional benefit. Travel aficionado? Clayton’s tales of personal encounters in Africa, Asia, and Central America are engrossing and enlightening. General music listener? I honestly haven’t read any writing about music that expresses such unbent glee about each detail, such enthusiasm for local and folk genres otherwise unloved in the West.

I was lucky, especially given the acknowledgement directed toward public libraries, to find this in my local stacks. Maybe it’s in yours, but if not, it’s well worth the money for your own copy.

[Fabrício Calado · Rating 5 out of 5]

Better read with headphones on.

Every chapter brought with it a piece of music, old and new, which left me searching for it wherever it was available (see, Spotify and YouTube, totalitarian as they might be, don't have all the answers).

Highly informing without sounding condescending, it breathes optimism. For sure, there are rants about the way things are right now, but there's also hope, fueled by travels and enlightened by sonic visions, that things can be different. Definitely a good thought in these turbulent times.

Also, as good books should be, it was fun. Reminded me of the Mudd up! days, when you had to wander around The Internet instead of heading to the same destination everyone is hanging out at.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

As much as "The Song Machine"(TSM) depressed me about the state of music, Jace Clayton's 'Uproot' restored my hope in music made and listened to for the joy of music (rather than money ala TSM). The intersection of music with digital production and DJing around the world is really cool, and the website that accompanies the book has an excellent listening guide that I listened through as I read the book, and was exposed to a great deal of interesting music from around the world.

The early chapters are the strongest, but the whole book is excellent.

[Ira Carter · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are a lot of excellent comments about how cool this book is. If I were to write a review per se, I would be repeating a lot of what they said. The book is about current styles of dance music, where digital culture meets that music, with lots of tasty world travel stories thrown in. The pace occasionally bogs down for a page or two, but overall it is a crisp, fascinating read. Another great book to take to the beach on vacation.

[Owen Duckworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing read, great for music heads and travelers alike

Loved reading a book about music and international travel written by a person of color and a person who clearly nerds out on music as much as I do. Lots of excellent perspectives on navigating different cultures, places, technological realities, and the evolution of the music industry and how people around the world engage with music. Highly recommended!

[Daniel Gutman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. A fun travelogue and a lot of interesting thoughts on music, taught me a lot about DJ culture and dance music. Sometimes the flow of the writing was a bit hard to follow.

Fav quotes:

"I haven't studied global development. I think abolishing international borders seems like a step in the right direction. Until that happens, I want 320 Kbps MP3 dance-floor heaters, and I'm willing to pay."

[Jacob Wren · Rating 5 out of 5]

"As I look back on those early days, I’m proud of our unspoken belief that if a supportive network came first, exciting musical moments would follow. Journalists love to crown royalty: magazine covers and website banners practically demand it. Yet as I’ve traveled, time and time again I’ve found myself in places where musical innovation and excitement emerge from a community experience, wherein the most groundbreaking or influential artists are rarely the most lauded."

[Gurldoggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A travelogue and memoir by a passionate and curious DJ. Clayton roams the world seeking new sounds and placing them in social contexts. He is painfully aware of the omnipresence of money and absence of imagination in most modern music, but is unceasingly optimistic that cheap and easily available digital tools are the path to cross-cultural dialogue and sonic reinvention. Hard to argue with his fervor or his playlist.

[G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Music is as much about the discovery as it is about the listening. Follow Jace Clayton's Third World voyage through the time of DJ-ing and the space of underground supply channels. This book makes me want to hear everything played in every kind of setting. Never knowing it all is the drive that fuels the quest.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

best book on contemporary music production that i have read. takes ethnomusicology out of the decidedly murky pool of "world music" and sets it on a course towards understanding global culture as a web or network of influences acting upon one another. who would have known dj /rupture was also a brilliant essayist?

[Puck · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this journey through modern bass and electronic music. The passages about sound culture in Jamaica in particular were exhilarating. This is the first book about bass music I've read, and it was quite something to have that special feelings when you feel bass put into words. Thank you Jace Clayton for sharing a beautiful story about the bass community!

[Ian Hamilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clayton’s travels and immersions into local musical subcultures is really fascinating, and he does a great job thematically weaving together scenes into a cohesive analysis of the digital world - for better and for worse. He has already pushed me down another rabbit hole of music exploration - that’s my only qualm. :-)

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Erudite, thoughtful, funny, entertaining. I have read a handful of Clayton's essays over the years and they have always struck me as written by someone who is constantly in motion, extraordinarily thoughtful about music and its role in cultures all over the world. These did not disappoint. He has a catholic taste (obviously leaning toward electronic work) and is deeply invested in the way music lives in the cultures from which it springs. His piece about the Berbers in Morocco was really well-written and a fascinating essay about how that music works in the country. His thoughts about dabke and konomo no 1 and the problems with stripping them of cultural context left me thinking a lot about the plucking of exotic sounds and handing them to americans and how that music becomes hip. It made me reconsider things like subliminal frequencies and labels of that ilk. He also has a love letter to the mp3 and its democratization of music sharing. Overall, I kinda loved this book. It made me think a lot about music, which is always enjoyable.

[Tankboy · Rating 4 out of 5]

On one hand this is wonderful nostalgia, reminding me of the shift from physical to digital. More importantly it's a great look into how the resulting fragmentation could be a great thing, should we embrace it.

[Jeff Heuer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A singular work, that I can imagine no one but Jace Clayton writing. A peripatetic survey of what it means to engage with global music now, still near the dawn of the third millennium. There are musical instruments, genres, languages… entire peoples here, which you are likely encountering for the first time. And, as always, dj rupture tells their stories in a personal and deeply humane way, while carefully acknowledging his own complex relationship to engaging with off-the-grid music from a privileged, Western perspective.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a damn fine book. I have loved Clayton's writing from my first experience and this book is no exception. Highly recommended for anyone who loves music or wants to learn more about the world we live in.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This feels as it says made up of some previous writings with new bits but it still reads pretty well. I have always loved what Rupture has done and it’s really great to read about his commitment to the music he discovers. Very inspiring and yes yet a again so much new music to listen to!!!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want everyone to read this book if they like music.