And yet, the current wave of enthusiasm is not so much a peak after a steady ascent but more of a temporary acme in a career marked by ups and downs. And yet, it isn't the issues which Routs not Roots is dealing with – the ongoing open discrimination against trans-genderism, questions of creative ownership, originality and musicality as well as the incapacities of the capitalist system – that have become more socially accepted – but rather Thaemlitz's personal and unique presentation of these topics, with long spoken word pieces taking turns with slowly gyrating and hypnotic house epics. Only several years earlier, when she originally self-released Routs not Roots on his own comatonse imprint and still personally assembled all sets by hand, even thinking about this kind of development would have seemed absurd. But ever since her DJ Sprinkles full-length Midtown 120 Blues on Mule Musiq snapped up the coveted album of the year distinction at leading dance-music platform Resident Adviser, Thaemlitz's deep house DJ-sets certainly seem to have found a solid fan base and his music gained a wider audience than ever before - encouraging signs that after roughly two decades as a DJ and producer, Thaemlitz may no longer have to explain his views and aesthetics with each new entry in his discography.
Perhaps none of this makes for headline news. When the album was finally presented to the public at large shortly after, the response was a similarly enthusiastic roar of approval accompanied by a variety of features in major online and print publications. At a recent party in Berlin on the occasion of the international re-release of Terre Thaemlitz's Routs not Roots album, guests and promoters alike left the club feeling like star-struck little children.