Reacting against the accelerating pace of modern life and too-much-information technology, young urban dwellers are carving out a new space, one brilliantly surveyed in "United States of Americana". Here we find barbers who instruct men to unplug the Norelco and try their (shaky) hand at shaving with a straight razor; manufacturers of high-end leather goods that outsource to the Amish rather than to India; DJs who rely on wax cylinders instead of digital files; restaurants where wild boar appears on the bill of fare (and the walls); and, work wear that once saved the lives of turn-of-the-century Alaskan miners, now reinterpreted for the runways of Paris and Milan. This isn't mere nostalgia, but a conscious celebration of community and sustainability. "United States of Americana" is the first comprehensive guide to the sounds, sights, tastes, and colorful characters that populate this new old-fashioned world, with topics including: the rise and evolution of alt-country music and the Americana genre (Fleet Foxes, Wilco, the Decemberists, and T-Bone Burnett) and the legends of country, blues, gospel and folk (Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris, Hank Williams, Leadbelly); American work wear and heritage clothing and footwear like Red Wing Boots, Pendleton, Filson, and Carhartt; prohibition and pre-prohibition era cocktails (Old Fashioned, Gin Fizz, Sidecar) and the speakeasy renaissance; nose-to-tail butchering and raising backyard chickens; straight razor shaving and old-fashioned barber shops; burlesque and circuses; the resurgence of the vinyl LP; home canning, pickling and preserving; and, the D.I.Y. handmade crafts movement (knitting, needlepoint, soap making).

They are music's vanguard. The reshape today's sounds -- house, techno, hip-hop, rock -- direct our feet on the floor, and influence the way music is represented in our culture.

"Don't look at the turntable as just this mechanism that you play records on. Apply yourself to it as if it were an instrument, and you can express yourself through the turntable."
-- Rob Swift, The X-ecutioners

From the rapid-fire editing of MTV videos, to underground parties and world-famous clubs, DJs have altered the course of music and video, moved into new media, and turned our generation on its ear -- literally.

Meet these creative artists -- many of them celebrities in their own right -- who line up the most infectious beats, mix and program them, and make us dance talk and think about music -- and the world -- in entirely different ways.

"We like to mix it all up and have a good time, a bit of a laugh."
-- Ben Dubuisson, Purple Penguin

Discover how they select their gear and choose tunes -- and pick up tips on how to mix.