My personal philosophy on this subject is to figure out what song I want
to hear next (regardless of BPM or style) and then find the smoothest way
to mix into it (be that a beat mix, dropping the new beat aftera break,
or a radio style fade in/fade out mix.) I find that my options stay open
and my sets are more interesting (last monday I went from Old School dub
(King Tubby, Lee Scratch Perry) to Downtempo beats (Mr Scruffi, DJ Krush)
to breakbeat (Elite Force, Q-Burns) to Drum 'N' Bass (Dread, Dextrous)
and back down to dub again. All within two hours. I really don't think I
could have done that if I beatmatched every song. (The crowd at Konkrete
Jungle doesn't seem to mind the tempo shifts, in fact I think it breaks
up the monotony of the constant driving Jungle upstairs.)
peace,
Lo-Ki