I would concur on times past - but I think the urgency of those early 'discovery' days have gone - Northern had a thread, a disjointed one given, but it did have a definate thread.
For example when Searling was at his height introducing killer discoveries from all era's. It is very few and far between I've heard anyone captivate a dancefloor in such a manner since.
On the back of that though, haven't we all matured since then, learnt more, have more of an informed view?
With the more informed views that we as punters have these days, shouldn't a dj's set revolve more about how he puts a group of records together, be they rare, well-known or whatever?