Four Tet — Much Love To The Plastic People (DJ mix December 2009)
Indie House · 1h 18m · analysed 19 Aug 2026 · source: soundcloud.com
Public mix analysis — no affiliation or endorsement. This report measures a publicly available recording hosted on soundcloud.com. The scores are produced by SOONOS and do not imply any partnership with, or approval by, Four Tet.
In short
Much Love To The Plastic People (DJ mix December 2009) by Four Tet scores 80/100 in the SOONOS analysis (club ready). The strongest dimension is IDENTITY (89/100) and the weakest is SURPRISE (76/100).
This DJ understands that the space between the beats is just as important as the beats themselves.
Key takeaways
What weakened the set
- Recurring high-end harshness (2×) — Hi-hat/cymbal stacking causes ear fatigue and crowd disengagement. Detected 2× (9:45, 20:05).
- Long static loops (4×) — Sections sitting on the same loop without layering, EQ moves or tension shifts (24:00, 29:00, 34:00, 40:00). Long loops kill dancefloor momentum.
What to try next
- Experiment with very short, dry vocal stabs to add texture to the long blends.
- Use subtle reverb sends on the percussion during transitions to smooth the handoff further.
- Consider a brief 'reset' moment around the 15-minute mark to prepare for the next energy lift.
- Experiment with more aggressive EQ cuts to create rhythmic 'holes' that add tension.
Timestamped insights
Each moment below is tagged with how it was produced: “measured” comes from the DSP pass on the audio, “listening” comes from the multi-agent listening pass.
Masterful long-form transition. The incoming track's percussion is introduced so subtly it feels like a natural progression of the first track.
Clean exit of the previous track using the HPF to leave space for the new groove to take over.
Masterful handover of the low-end; the transition is almost invisible.
Smooth integration of new rhythmic elements over the existing groove.
Effective use of high-pass filtering to bring in the new track's top-end.
Seamless transition that maintains the rhythmic pulse perfectly.
Slight muddiness in the mids during the blend, but groove remains intact.
About this indie house set
Much Love To The Plastic People (DJ mix December 2009) is a indie house DJ set by Four Tet, running 1h 18m. It was measured by the SOONOS multi-agent engine and scores 80/100 overall — club ready.
The engine files this performance as “Promising”.
This DJ understands that the space between the beats is just as important as the beats themselves.
How the score breaks down
SOONOS scores this set across 5 weighted categories. The strongest is IDENTITY at 89/100; the weakest is SURPRISE at 76/100.
Analysis coverage for this file is 100% — the share of the set the engine could measure with full confidence.
Energy and structure
The energy curve was sampled at 25 points, moving between 30 and 85 on the SOONOS energy scale — a wide dynamic range across the set.
7 transitions were detected and scored individually.
Beat-grid measurement (DSP) reports 725.7 grid breaks per hour, with a median beat offset of 24 ms.
How this score is built
Measured layer (DSP): the audio file is analysed directly — beat grid, tempo stability, loudness and energy. These values are measurements, not opinions.
Listening layer: a multi-agent pass reads musical intent — programming, storytelling, coherence and crowd effect. This layer interprets, it does not measure.
Fusion and ceilings: the two layers are merged, and the measured layer always wins on execution. When the DSP hears an execution problem, it caps the final score even if the listening layer is positive.
Measured coverage for this file is 100% of the set.
Full SOONOS analysis
This DJ understands that the space between the beats is just as important as the beats themselves.
The 8 dimensions
Not available — the 8-dimension profile was not measured for this set.
Score breakdown
TECHNIQUE
How well did you execute?
25%84
TECHNIQUE
How well did you execute?
STORYTELLING
Did the mix go somewhere?
25%85
STORYTELLING
Did the mix go somewhere?
ENERGY
Did you control the room?
20%80
ENERGY
Did you control the room?
SURPRISE
Did you remain unpredictable?
15%76
SURPRISE
Did you remain unpredictable?
IDENTITY
Did the mix sound like you?
15%89
IDENTITY
Did the mix sound like you?
Energy arc
Transitions analysed (7)
64-bar EQ blend
Masterful long-form transition. The incoming track's percussion is introduced so subtly it feels like a natural progression of the first track.
High-pass filter transition
Clean exit of the previous track using the HPF to leave space for the new groove to take over.
Long EQ blend
Masterful handover of the low-end; the transition is almost invisible.
Percussive layering
Smooth integration of new rhythmic elements over the existing groove.
Filter fade
Effective use of high-pass filtering to bring in the new track's top-end.
Long EQ blend with low-end swap
Seamless transition that maintains the rhythmic pulse perfectly.
Mid-frequency overlap
Slight muddiness in the mids during the blend, but groove remains intact.
Technical subscores
85
EQ balance
89
Beat alignment
84
Energy control
90
Tempo stability
84
Loudness control
90
Musical coherence
83
Harmonic compatibility
87
Transition cleanliness
Measured (DSP)
24 ms
Beat-grid drift (median)
Typical gap between the two tracks' beats while they play together. Lower is tighter.
218 ms
Drift p95
Worst-case drift: 95% of the set stays tighter than this value.
4,684
Boundaries detected
Points where the audio changes track or section.
14
Hard cuts / h
Abrupt track changes per hour, with no blend between the two records.
1285
Clipping events
Moments where the recording hits the ceiling and distorts.
507
Level jumps
Sudden volume steps between tracks.
Measurement confidence 100% · analysed on the full audio.
Recurring patterns
Recurring high-end harshness
Hi-hat/cymbal stacking causes ear fatigue and crowd disengagement. Detected 2× (9:45, 20:05).
Long static loops (4×)
Sections sitting on the same loop without layering, EQ moves or tension shifts (24:00, 29:00, 34:00, 40:00). Long loops kill dancefloor momentum.
Timeline
- 0:30Atmospheric Hook
- 6:45Groove Lock
- 13:45Groove Lock
- 18:30Energy Plateau
- 25:20Groove Lock Achievement
- 30:10Percussive Peak
- 28:45Risky pressure or vibe dip
Coaching notes
- Experiment with very short, dry vocal stabs to add texture to the long blends.
- Use subtle reverb sends on the percussion during transitions to smooth the handoff further.
- Consider a brief 'reset' moment around the 15-minute mark to prepare for the next energy lift.
- Experiment with more aggressive EQ cuts to create rhythmic 'holes' that add tension.
- Introduce a track with a distinct vocal or melodic hook every 15-20 minutes to refresh listener attention.
- Vary the transition lengths slightly to avoid becoming too predictable.
- Use subtle delay or reverb sends on percussion to add spatial depth to the mix.
- Experiment with more dramatic EQ cuts to create brief moments of tension release.
- Introduce a subtle melodic element to provide a narrative anchor during long percussive stretches.
- Tighten phase alignment during mid-frequency overlaps to ensure maximum clarity.
- Consider a brief 'reset' moment (e.g., a short breakdown) to emphasize the transition into the peak phase.
Curious how your own set scores?
Methodology and limitations
This report is produced automatically from the published recording. It measures what is present in the audio file: a bad source encoding, a partial upload or a heavily processed broadcast version can change the measured values. Nothing here reflects the room, the crowd or the night itself.
Read the full SOONOS methodology →Questions about this analysis
- What score does Four Tet's Much Love To The Plastic People (DJ mix December 2009) get?
- Much Love To The Plastic People (DJ mix December 2009) scores 80/100 in the SOONOS Mix Database (club ready), based on audio measurement plus multi-agent listening.
- How long is Much Love To The Plastic People (DJ mix December 2009)?
- The analysed recording runs 1h 18m.
- Which part of the mix scores best?
- IDENTITY is the strongest category at 89/100, while SURPRISE is the lowest at 76/100.
- How is this score calculated?
- SOONOS measures the audio with a DSP pass (beat grid, loudness, tempo, energy) and runs a multi-agent listening pass on top. Measured axes always override the listening layer, so an execution issue heard in the file caps the final score.
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