i totally agree. less dj tools and more non-formula's.
i think the problem we have is the fact that performance has become such an issue in selling techno. records are now for dj's, not record collectors or listeners. and because techno is dj music, things have to be easy for the dj's. and the majority of dj's out there play formulated techno.
just a very recent example, i was speaking to quite a respected dj in the techno field about micheal burkat. 'oh, i don't play his stuff', he said, 'it chages on the 16, not the 32'. now i can see why this would be a problem. you're a dj on the go, haven't had time to learn the record and you're infront of 10,000 ppl and it changes slightly out of the formula that the rest of the records use. damn, you lose the flow of your set and it really does sound like you've messed up.
not the best example of innovation i know hahah but this all got me thinking. techno has got to a stage now where if you change the track on 16 instead of 32 you CANT PLAY IT?!?!?!! WTF?!?!!
let's be honest. hard techno, minimal techno, whatever techno, as long as it's for the dancefloor always ends up becoming tailor made for dj play. sure the original tracks that made us go 'wow, what is this new xxxxx techno sound' are much more unformulated than what comes after it but that's what innovation is all about - making alot of ppl go WOW to something they have never gone WOW to before. it's those tracks that make the change and the rest become bastardised formulaic copies. as long as there are DJ's and as long as there is vinyl, this willl always happen.
for me the true innovation comes from listening to cd's or albums, not 4 track EPs or dj tools. i wish more dj's would play these type of tracks out but in the end 99% of dj's won't and the 1% that does, will probably not get booked. it's the .000001% that will make real waves, but then in the end, they'll probably want an easy life so will eventually fall into the formula trap somewhere down the line.