Sequencing: the Heart of the Mix

I won't be naming names here...so breath easy, weed-hopper!

Merely cramming songs of one genre (or another) onto a disc and labeling it "Rock/Pop", "Indie", or, in my case, "Ambient", does not necessarily make it a good mix.

With Ambient, especially (and because 3-Chord mixes are a lot simpler), there must be a logical f-l-o-w: meaning - the songs must gradually pick up the pace. For example one would not mix Bowie's 'Suffragette City' and follow it with Dylan's "Blowing in the Wind" -- that's obvious.
What's not as obvious is coupling, say a Berlin School piece with a bit of Microsound or Drone; beats + atmosphere just don't mix well together.

You could begin with Atmosphere and progress to Beats by the end of your 80 minutes...but not link them back-to-back.

If one isn't familiar with a genre, ALL mixes look good on paper (or on an AotM submission page). But the skilled mixer will craft his avocation/hobby until his or her mixes aren't just a "cool" (as in "Hey, COOL mix, dude" [please]) compilation of tunes...but a thoroughly enjoyable (and repeatable) listening experience.

That's it, kids...school's out for the weekend, ;-]