The Morning After: Uproot by DJ/rupture

Uproot, released October 7 on Agriculture

Pasting together swatches of 23 diverse, seemingly random, and very-much-someone-else’s songs could make it seem like DJ/rupture, known to his mother as Jace Clayton, is a plain thief or merely yet another mashupologist who captures the familiar and repackages it in smile-worthy fashion. But despite the fact that he’s utilizing the source material of others, a technique prone to aping and obnoxiousness, there’s a simple kindness to Uproot, as if Clayton’s working to amplify the gorgeousness of the originals in a tributary tapestry, rather than simply trying to make a buck off of stolen beats and the electronic excitement that is the fade-out and fade-in.

Underlying the complication of having all these tracks represented—with genesis-providing tunes from under-the-radar stars Jenny Jones, Maga Bo, Filastine, and Shadetek, among others—is a distinct and fluid care to craft, as most of the songs seamlessly bleed into each other in a fashion far more flow-friendly than the sometimes-jarring juxtapositions of mashers like Girl Talk, to mention only the most renowned of the swarm of do-it-yourself top-40 pillagers. There’s a somber element here, too, even when the sources are pleasant, and that can be owed to the dubstep foundation of the album, as it’s not too much of a stretch to see the able (and copiously award-nominated) influence of Burial sneaking through these tracks. In the end, Uproot stands out in the bunch of new song-crunches populating the music scene, and even when it’s at its grimmest, it’s a fine how-to guide for the next wave of wannabes.

Report Card: B+