On the ninth day of Choonsmas Krampus went to pen… foiled by MLE, Ed & Ben 🏴 🇩🇪 🐉
Well, well, well, where to begin with these? Rhythm Section’s Khaleesi and her likkle Welsh Dragons are three of our nearest ‘n’ dearest. And as if there was any doubts about Em’s exquisite aural palette, the Rhythm Section label manager has just secured sweet vindication as they have just swept up DJmag’s label of the year award under her watch, and yes we are very proud of her. Her expatriation to Berlin hasn’t severed any bonds between us, as she turned Gut Level into an absolute vibe factory with us & 7hill back in November. Ed & Ben have been best buds since way back on the fields of Kinnerton almost two decades ago and are [literally, as Ed is our Gretty’s step bro] nothing if not family.
Under the single user moniker Tha LDN Mad Dogzz, they are loyal beasts on the dancefloor and feared firebreathers on the pioneers. Notable in his absence is Joel, who was busy playing scrabble 👎👎👎 . Christmas cheer to all but him!
On the ninth day of Choonsmas Krampus went to pen… foiled by MLE, Ed & Ben 🏴 🇩🇪 🐉
Well, well, well, where to begin with these? Rhythm Section’s Khaleesi and her likkle Welsh Dragons are three of our nearest ‘n’ dearest. And as if there was any doubts about Em’s exquisite aural palette, the Rhythm Section label manager has just secured sweet vindication as they have just swept up DJmag’s label of the year award under her watch, and yes we are very proud of her. Her expatriation to Berlin hasn’t severed any bonds between us, as she turned Gut Level into an absolute vibe factory with us & 7hill back in November. Ed & Ben have been best buds since way back on the fields of Kinnerton almost two decades ago and are [literally, as Ed is our Gretty’s step bro] nothing if not family.
Under the single user moniker Tha LDN Mad Dogzz, they are loyal beasts on the dancefloor and feared firebreathers on the pioneers. Notable in his absence is Joel, who was busy playing scrabble 👎👎👎 . Christmas cheer to all but him!
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
MLE: 2021 saw me try and dig into the archives a lot more, after the absence of gigs in 2020 I relinquished the desire to only listen to dance tunes or just pigeon-holding myself to the darker edges of post-punk and opened my mind to some real special ones. The Martini tune is a one hit wonder - offering some bittersweet 1985’s modern soul out of Michigan and Pause is a true rare funk classic from 1987.
MLE's 2nd tune for same entry...always one that's got to be difficult
Ben: Sort of like an updated Vibes is Right and I really do love that song. I think of standing on a London bridge platform whilst the Adelaide homies (LDN mad dogs) converse beside me, and feeling thankful
Ed: My favourite track from a dreamy album. It lives up to its name: slow, ethereal and perfect for bedtime listening.
MLE: The iconic DJ stranger of Strange productions comes through with this epic remix of Totals 1998 anthem Trippin, a song that needed no more perfection but when paired with the garage sensibilities of DJ Strange it enters higher ground. I listened to this tune a lot when we were in lockdown earlier this year whilst I was commuting to recordsale to grade some records, which warmed me up in those minus 9 mornings.
Ben: This song floors me and I'm sure will always remind me of this past year. Perfect dreamy poppy jungle where the words and music belong together
Ed: This track is truly otherworldly and really gets me in all the right places. The standout from the album Blue Alibi that I haven’t been able to stop listening to.
Ben: So grateful to have learnt about babyxsosa last year. I think her voice has a beautiful sweetness to it particularly in this touching drumless song produced by vegyn.
MLE: I got really into house this year (lol) the proto-trance selections on Young Marcos safe trip comp Planet Love made me mega hyped about early bleep, bass and all things early 90s. I started furiously digging on these lines for a couple of months, especially over summer and it brought me nothing but joy. 1992 do be the year of exceptional otherworldly delights.
Ed: I haven’t picked any club music yet, so here’s something to blow your Christmas socks off.
LDN Mad Dogs: We were reunited with Emily and Joe in Berlin in October and spent one of the funnest weekends of the year together. Goddamn, we miss living with those guys! Oh, and catching MLE & the Se7en Peppers in Sheffield for a swinging party at Gut Level.
LDN Mad Dogs: New projects, travelling, boosting and seeing our homies!
MLE: Christmas this year is pretty bittersweet to be honest, it has been a tough year filled with a lot of personal loss for me and I can’t see my nearest and dearest on the day, but, I have so much to be thankful for. I got promoted, started working full time, I have a mega supportive boss and people voted for RS to be label of the year in DJ Mag… and there's so much more to come in 2022. This breakbeat meets house number is a real butt jiggler and I intend to let loose with it.
It’s not strictly a Christmas tune, but why not sit back, pour yourself a pint of eggnog and let Bob Lind do the rest.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Tried to keep it as weird as possible. And shed some light on some smaller acts from Bristol to Chicargooooooo.
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.
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.
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
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
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 🐇
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.
SP: It's actually entirely to do with the pubs reopening. Enjoy with caution
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."
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.
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 :)
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!
Here's some choons, new and old that kept us going in this weird as hell year. Hope you enjoy.
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."
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!
Some of the stuff we have been digging this year and personal finds!
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 :)
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
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.
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*
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.
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?
