I don't know. There's very little 'straight' or conventional techno that's "forward thinking". This whole forward thinking ideal is a stupid romantic illusion that techno fans have wallowed in for too long now... to the point that it's total garbage. Techno as a genre is not very innovative anymore, and a lot of times the producers taking chances or experimenting don't sell, or get very limited media interest. Inigo Kennedy for instance, is a good example.

Personally I think the whole focus on techno only is a waste of time, techno won't sound interesting anymore unless combined with other non-(traditional) techno elements. The original wave of techno producers weren't wondering about how to make the future sound or any of that, they just did it and the name was born. But techno has run its course, only the less sentimental and daring will be willing to see this, and perhaps try to make something different of their own which might not be techno at all, but is 'techno' in spirit, i.e. different/new blah blah. People have got too hung up on the word "techno", to the point that it has to sound a certain way or else it's not techno - which turns out to be a very contradictory view or stance to have. Techno has had its day in the sun, it's now up to people to form hybrid styles and perhaps stumble upon something new, maybe even with a new name! There's always going to be room for techno, but I think now above most times...it needs to be combined with something else.

Anyway, at the end of the day, techno is also just about making a good tune that will rock a dancefloor... and once that's still happening and the quality is there, then everything cool :)


Regarding producers, here's a few off the top of my head...

Adam X : Pushing industrial techno in a new direction.
Surgeon: His material almost always has a twist or edge.
Neil Landstrumm: Techno to the core.
Richie Hawtin: Like it or not, he has spawned a whole new movement in minimal, and is still an innovator.

Oh, and possibly the two greatest techno tunesmiths of recent times: Chris McCormack and Luke Slater... but they don't do too much anymore :disgust: