theres a lot of speculation about this 'mixing in key' buisness. apparently it really can get a mix going, so naturally a newcomer like myself would turn an eye to this. I know a bit about chords and stuff but I cant yet determine what key a track is in just by listening to it.

how can i do this or is there anyway around it

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[style]: House and Funked out Techno
[status]: Pimpin

If you're talking about DJ mixing rather than production mixing, check out one of the sticky threads in the DJ booth - it has a list of keys for tunes. Best example is - pick 2 tunes on the list in the same key, then try mixing them - it'll sound superb
As you understand key mixing more you'll be able to choose different keys to mix into to get different effects (ie to provide a bit more energy in the mix, or to slow things down a bit)