its just more & more now I seem to see mix cd's being handed out all over the place where the whole thing is clearly mixed on ableton/whatever those mixing programmes are, and it just sounds un-naturally tight
This is interesting. I have a good number of Ableton mixes stored on the computer than I listen to all the time. Personally I'd rather that a mix cd - or increasingly mix mp3 or equivalent - was as tight as possible. After all, it's a release that you've prepared for the public, showcasing your skills - why would you want mistakes, hesitations etc surviving to the finished product? I think people ought to get away from the idea that a DJ mix can only ever be a document of you playing records live, once you get away from being strictly tied to the real-time progression a lot of interesting things are possible.
Out in a club is different, of course, there I like to hear plenty of improvisation and audience interaction. If it ever reached the hypothetical stage of someone just clicking start on a playlist, I would give them air. But most clubers I speak to feel the same, so I don't reckon there's much risk of this happening. It should also be noted that recent versions of Ableton and similar software have features designed for this sort of interactive use.
I do agree with Droid that some of the full potentials of Ableton style mixing haven't been widely realised yet. It would also be a shame if the old techniques started to be lost; someone who really wants to be good at DJing ought to strive to be as flexible as possible. That's why personally I'm trying to make myself familiar with all different methods, the more hands-on and the more software-based ones. Of course, that's part of why it's taking me bloody ages to get anywhere, but ho-hum.
