your current favorite/most amazing/groundbreaking DJ?

Why, DJ Bass'n Gently, of course.

This is a serious question: how do you know when they've broke new ground? I can't figure out DJing at all.

When they sound different from anything you've ever heard before.

I have never been as blown away as when I saw Jeff Mills at the Limelight this summer, on my birthday. Sort of the opposite of what Alan describes: just 3 turntables and a 909. Sometimes he'd go just with the 909 for a good 10 or 15 minutes, all the turntables off, programming it on the fly, everyone severely losing it, crowd just going bananas.

Alan it sounds like Dalek was great! I think more DJs need to head in this direction because really, let's face it, not everybody can be Jeff Mills, and it's cool to hear the sounds being fucked with, or your favorite records sounding radically different coming out of the speakers.

Wolfman Jack.

while i like techno/house/dance music a lot, i've never been able to understand all the hoopla that DJs get. It seems to me that most of them don't do anything all that interesting, with music produced by others. I have a friend who djs a little bit, he also played in a band, and he said it's way different. DJing not that much like being a musician, more about matching beats and having good records. But I guess that is just the norm, maybe you are talking about live bands that employ djing & stuff. I hope to hear more examples like jeff mills that someone brought up, sounds poretty cool

DJ Assault. Has a refreshing 'careless' way of mixing/scratching/fitting any form of music into his mix, at an outragous pace. And he makes you smile.

The DJ's name from Dalek is Chang. Dalek played at my school last year, and I talked to that guy for a while--he's cool as shit. He's a student at Swarthmore (at least he was last year; he might've graduated) who fakes illnesses so he can tour. Anyway, yes, I think his technique is super-cool, especially in a live setting--very intense.

Jon Carter never ceases to amaze me. He's technically amazing and also it's the choice of records he has. He'll play his own mix of some song, or something really unexpected. Always has the crowd going mad. Also Stanton Warriors were amazing when I saw them live. Their sound is that sort of breakbeat garage stuff, a bit like Plump Djs but better maybe. Mix album is very good too. Cakeboy was also really good when I saw him at that Essential Festival thing in London this summer.

John Digweed really used to push the envelope a few years ago....the kind of tough, percussive "prog-house" he plays was quite exciting for a lot of people back in 1998-99, and it really culminated with the release of his Global Underground: Hong Kong disc. Now, every "progressive" DJ merely attempts to expound on the Digweed/Tenaglia hybrid style.