On the Fifth day of Choonsmas, Father Pepmas left under the treeeee….ABENA (aka Tracyyyy)!
Treats galore behind this advent door, and certainly not limited to 4x4, Abena has become one of the name’s we’re most eager to experience from a dance floor in 2021. Also part of the incredible All Hands on Deck crew and a member of the Partisan Cooperative with Rosa, in 2020 Tracy has started her own residency on Steam Radio with the ‘Well Good’ show; taking listeners through some of the best belters she’s found recently. In a year that Tracy has wowed on the We Out Here Festival Stream & stunned with her ridiculous mix for the JEROME Mixfile series, she isn’t slowing down just yet! This Saturday, airing 19-Dec @ 11:59am, she will be DJing for 12 HOURS to raise funds for organisations who support refugees & asylum seekers. Link at the bottom of this post!
So without further ado, or any of Thor the Cat’s mischievous input, Abena’s top highlights of 2020…
On the Fifth day of Choonsmas, Father Pepmas left under the treeeee….ABENA (aka Tracyyyy)!
Treats galore behind this advent door, and certainly not limited to 4x4, Abena has become one of the name’s we’re most eager to experience from a dance floor in 2021. Also part of the incredible All Hands on Deck crew and a member of the Partisan Cooperative with Rosa, in 2020 Tracy has started her own residency on Steam Radio with the ‘Well Good’ show; taking listeners through some of the best belters she’s found recently. In a year that Tracy has wowed on the We Out Here Festival Stream & stunned with her ridiculous mix for the JEROME Mixfile series, she isn’t slowing down just yet! This Saturday, airing 19-Dec @ 11:59am, she will be DJing for 12 HOURS to raise funds for organisations who support refugees & asylum seekers. Link at the bottom of this post!
So without further ado, or any of Thor the Cat’s mischievous input, Abena’s top highlights of 2020…
I really had to stop myself from putting Babyfather’s ‘Meditation’ as my sole entry to this list because I’ve been playing that every day for the last three years. I thought it would be best to solely focus on tracks that have been released this year so here’s a list of my faves. Most of them have been included in mixes and radio shows and danced to in my parents’ living room.
This is probably my favourite track of the year. I've spent many evenings dancing to this tune in my living room during lockdown. The energy of this track (and all the other tracks on the Swandive EP) is incredible and I can't wait to play this out in a club. It's so fun!
Henzo's rework of this classic has been on repeat all year. I copped this fun little stepper on Bandcamp Day and I've included it in lots of my mixes and radio shows.
The title says it all! The track is truly therapeutic and another good tune to dance to in your living room.
This track instantly brings out the gun fingers. I'd recommend listening to the entire EP - it's filled with grimey steppers.
I really love this track! I played it on my Ransom Note mix and it's such a mood. It's probably one of the few tracks that I've discovered this year that I would've loved to hear in the club.
This is the kind of tune that you wish you'd hear when the lights go out. Groovy jungle number that will instantly cheer you up!
I heard this tune on Debonair's NTS show and I've been hooked ever since. I've been listening to lots of Jennifer Walton's releases since then and I'm a really big fan. She's incredible!
Big up Meekz, big up Gorton and RIP Showcase Cinemas. You were a real one.
I'm not the biggest fan of Christmas because I spend it at home with my parents who I already live with, so it feels like any other day tbh. But I do like drinking and listening to silly tunes with them and this one always comes up. I don't really know what else I can say about it because everyone likes it! Those synths! Those harmonies! What's not to love?!
My mix for Ransom Note is definitely a highlight! I really love the way people reacted to it because it's a mix that I really enjoyed making. Also, having my Jerome mix selected by Mixmag as one of the best mixes of 2020 was pretty mad - wasn't expecting that at all! A couple of other highlights: playing at We Out Here's virtual festival and playing at the V&A with All Hands on Deck at the start of the year. 2020 has been strange but it definitely consisted of a couple of great things.
Taking my time to put out mixes and focusing on my new radio show on Steam Radio. Also maybe going out? I'm not banking on that though.
Tracy is raising money for three charities that campaign for and support refugees & asylum seekers.
Those charities are: Safety4Sisters, RAPAR and African Rainbow Family
"These organisations serve as hubs that offer refugees and asylum seekers with mental and emotional support and advice about the UK's confusing immigration system, whilst campaigning for their right to safely reside in this country." (From Tracy's fundraiser page)
You can watch/listen to Abena's set via Partisan's Mixcloud here: https://www.mixcloud.com/PartisanCollective/
We’re long time friends and musical collaborators born and raised in Sheffield and now living West of the Pennines in Manchester. We spent some years in Sheffield running ‘Don’t Look Now’, a series of ludicrous parties, expressing our shared love of club culture and the musical heritage of the Steel City. Having temporarily taken a step back from promotion we now also host a monthly radio show called Roadside Picnic in which we can explore our more otherworldly thoughts and dreams.
Tracy: The selections picked by us are tunes that we’ve rinsed a lot this year and played quite often on our radio shows. I think they represent our sound as individual DJs but also as a collective.
Tracy: The selections picked by us are tunes that we’ve rinsed a lot this year and played quite often on our radio shows. I think they represent our sound as individual DJs but also as a collective.
Not much new music in here (we’re crap at keeping up to date), but lots of goodies that we’ve played and enjoyed both inside and outside the space this year
MLE: Hi, you may remember me from radio stations such as Balamii, Noods, Worldwide FM and the occasional guest appearances on NTS. Find my 2020 highlights alongside my fav bunch of dawgs…May 2021 be infinitely less painful. Solway Canine Collective: Ruff noises straight from the kennel. Another year of gutter tunes from the junkyard dawgs.
SP: Huge shouts to everyone who was there for us and supported us in music and beyond last year, we look forwards to sharing good times together again soon!
2020 has been tough, and we’ve been fortunate enough to get through it with the help of those close to us. Now we hope you can join us in looking to 2021 as another year to be inspired by one another, and to keep on keeping on together.
Thank you to everyone that has been a part of Choonsmas this year, it's been a lovely way to end a turbulent year <3
Here are some of my top listens this year - ones that I've been playing and replaying. Most have been released in 2020, with a sprinkle of oldies too. I inevitably remembered loads that should be in here after making this, but I hope in sifting through this list there will be some enjoyable/meaningful listens in store for Semi Peppered friends and followers 🐇
What ho!? The sun has shone, the birds have tweep tweeped and the second edition of our Peppered Digs is launched for public enjoyment. Celebrate the springtime harbingers with some bangers in bloom :)
Our top 8 tracks of 2020 (we’ve listened to tonnes of old ones from the 80s through out the digging process but we’ve tried to keep this strictly 2020 - with some of our fave oldies thrown in) but also less club focussed as clubbing seems so redundant right now (although we have thrown a few heaters in for you). A mixed bag for a funny old time!
d. clemente: Same as last year, I am here with a whole selection of dance music (sorry I actually don’t listen to anything else lol) that made me go like “wow, yeehaw, yes, alright alright, mmmmm”. DJ SWEAT: *siren plays* D-D-D-D-DJ SWEAT on tha haus! *toilet sound* merry all! *jingle jingle*
We’re long time friends and musical collaborators born and raised in Sheffield and now living West of the Pennines in Manchester. We spent some years in Sheffield running ‘Don’t Look Now’, a series of ludicrous parties, expressing our shared love of club culture and the musical heritage of the Steel City. Having temporarily taken a step back from promotion we now also host a monthly radio show called Roadside Picnic in which we can explore our more otherworldly thoughts and dreams.
A varying degree of musical tastes seem to exist within the Left, Right & Centre camp between ourselves so there may be a bit of disparity between each of our selections. However I think we can both agree that it’s been a topsy turvy year, but there has been lots of highs for us as a label and party, as well as individually. Huge shout out to all the crews doing the do and pushing things along in Manchester and further afield, and of course a big thank you to the Semi Peppered dons for getting us involved.
This has been a weird af year but here are some highlights from us which we hope you enjoy. Special shout out to Goutham for having the self control to not list Cockroach - Pearl (Bright Edit) [COMPOSE] {1996} multiple times.
Apologies! I’ve not bought a new release since the Music from Memory Almost Grown record, which was still a reissue haha! These ones are some of my fave digs from the year - a mixture of cheap and hard to find stuff, records that I have wanted for a while but managed to cop this year. Lots of digging and hermiting time, hope you like them/find them interesting! Merry xmas 💖💖 xx
Ed: My selections reflect exactly what I’ve been listening to over the last year or two - lots of slow music to soundtrack many days spent at home. I’ve thrown one freaky dance tune in there for good measure, to keep the aliens over at Semi Peppered happy. Ben: Mad dog by name mad dog by nature, woof woof MLE: I am so strong haha
We’re Emma and Jonah, old friends and lifelong music obsessives. We both share a love for tunes that make us nostalgic for a neon lit past that didn’t happen. If it clears the floor, we want more.
Compiling this list for the SP crew made me realise how many amazing releases came out this year, a cause for celebration in a year of woe. This list scrapes the tip of the iceberg in terms of what I’ve enjoyed, but I have somehow narrowed it down to 8 LPs of 2020 that I have been rinsing and repeating.
I mostly mix techno / breaks / house / fusion music. So I’ve tried to include six tunes that showcase these genres as much as possible! One thing I’ve learned from mixing is that there is endless music to explore and to never make your mind up on whether or not you like an entire genre! Fusing elements of one genre into another is a real game changer for me :)
Here’s a lil selection of a few of my fave tracks that have gone into Ambient Babestation Meltdown mixes this year, and a few tracks that I plan to feature in upcoming mixes. Finding new music was never a problem working at Rye Wax, but as we’ve been shut since March I’ve been having to dig A LOT DEEPER and I think it’s helped make my mixes a lot weirder haha. Please enjoy my selection and dream of the day we can all float about the club in silly outfits and silly states once again.
Taïga: There’s going to be no jungle / 160 I’m afraid, if anyone wants to hear our fave selections from that genre they can just listen to any of our sets! Mia: 2021 has been a great year for music, much like last year, the year before that, and all the other years. I don’t really think it’s possible for there to be an entire year where the whole planet collectively just puts out shit music, even if artists like Burial are giving it their best shot.
ETN: "We've spent most of the year agonisingly far apart from each other so our choices and highlights feel very unconnected. Doing our Noods shows as socially-distanced fb-chat b2bs has been an interesting diversion, but we're longing for the affectionate chaos of the studio sessions. We all miss each other and hopefully next year will be full of the shared experiences and connection that are the best things about being a Shrubbery!" Chukwudi: "Having blown my last ETN royalty cheque investing in phonecards, I've asked the band to get together for one last reunion gig so that I can keep the lights on this Christmas. Unfortunately all the clubs are closed so I've had to make do with an (apparently unpaid) spot on the semi peppered xmas countdown instead."
Here's some choons, new and old that kept us going in this weird as hell year. Hope you enjoy.
SP: It's actually entirely to do with the pubs reopening. Enjoy with caution
Robbie: "Some highlights from a rollercoaster year, remembering the soundtrack of initial lockdown turmoil to reminiscing about the last tunes heard in the club." David: "As someone whose main hobby is clubbing and nightlife, this year I haven't stopped listening to dance music. Here's some new tunes I really look forward to listening to on a big soundsystem."
Some of the stuff we have been digging this year and personal finds!
Tried to keep it as weird as possible. And shed some light on some smaller acts from Bristol to Chicargooooooo.
The Trouserlings + Papi Ruari bring you another collection of varied morsels to warm the cockles. Here is to another year of following the Semi Peppered boys blindly into the sun.
We hope you enjoy sifting through our proper mixed bag of tunes that have soundtracked an incredibly west period in history. We feel these releases have been on the ride with us and deserve acknowledgement. What better way than a big old peppered round up eh?
In no particular order these are our top releases from 2020. Coincidentally featuring plenty of previous Cue guests (we’re not biased, honest) alongside some other favourites.
