On the fourth day of Choonsmas, los pimientos brought for thee… a spicy boys double whammyyy.
That’s right, two of Manchester’s finest gents, Robbie Bloomer & d. clemente, gave us a quick chinwag on what's been rocking their nautical behinds in this Strange & Unprecedented year. Robbie has been a stalwart on the Manchester scene for years as a founder of one of the parties we all miss most dearly, High Hoops, whilst David has been establishing himself as one of the rainy city’s bona-fide tops-off party starters, with features on some of the best shows across the UK and starting his radio show/spanish flirting lesson Homoschooling on Steam Radio this year.
Fresh off our recent Nauti Tits exploits with the pair on Noods, they introduced us to some of the music they've been enjoying this year...
On the fourth day of Choonsmas, los pimientos brought for thee… a spicy boys double whammyyy.
That’s right, two of Manchester’s finest gents, Robbie Bloomer & d. clemente, gave us a quick chinwag on what's been rocking their nautical behinds in this Strange & Unprecedented year. Robbie has been a stalwart on the Manchester scene for years as a founder of one of the parties we all miss most dearly, High Hoops, whilst David has been establishing himself as one of the rainy city’s bona-fide tops-off party starters, with features on some of the best shows across the UK and starting his radio show/spanish flirting lesson Homoschooling on Steam Radio this year.
Fresh off our recent Nauti Tits exploits with the pair on Noods, they introduced us to some of the music they've been enjoying this year...
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."
Robbie: This track kinda encapsulates the shift from focusing on club music to more downtempo stuff when lockdown hit and the clubs closed. Learned to appreciate softer sounds and this was a standout track (and album) n still gets me emotional.
David: From Sweden’s BARS of Beats (co-run by Manchester’s own Bobo and Oblique himself) this whole EP BANGS! Oblique is an amazing artist I truly admire. He will be soon releasing another EP with the boys at Jerk It! Keep your eyes and ears peeled as I can tell you it does deliver!
Robbie: I love the sexy vocals and chuggy atmosphere on Dj City’s tracks, properly giving off that sleazy Cocktail d’Amore dance floor energy. Feels like a lot of half naked bodies in musical format.
David: I fucking love Happa so much lmao. He is one of my heroes… His production always puts me on my feet. Busy Feet has become one of my 2020 (and lifetime) anthems. A lover of the random, I’ve always been into tunes that go into so many different places musically speaking, and Happa’s always do!
Robbie: This was played in most of my sets with High Hoops before the pandemic started. A real trippy one. I can smell the smoke machine, sweat infusion every time I listen back to it.
David: Coming directly from one of the latest releases from Raiders (Queens of Club: Night Shift) Dipping in Kool Aid encapsulates exactly what I like to feel at 5am in the club when my energy starts draining but my brain only wants more. Queens of Club consists of 2 V/As that celebrate the talent of up-and-coming women and non-binary producers in Ghettotech, Electro, Breakbeat, etc. This year Raiders has shown it shouldn’t only be straight men ruling these scenes, and they are smashing it!
Robbie: Because who doesn’t love a Summer Walker remix.
David: Simply one of the most talented heads in the North and also one of my favourite people… like ever! LUXE (fka DJ LUZ) has shown that her career in music has only started blooming with every release this year. Crafted with love and released by Banoffee Pies, Falcon’s Rise blew my mind the first time I heard it: it moved my insides and made me well emotional as it made me think of all those times on nights out where the music has made me go to my friends and give them a big hug. Thanks LUXE for giving this feeling a form.
Robbie: What kind of fruit would I be if I didn’t choose Mariah?!?
David: Going back to my childhood and full on cheesy here. Not massively into the Christmas feel but Una Sobre el Mismo Mar the main Christmas carol for the Canary Islands must be the only song that actually makes me feel Christmassy. Sound-tracked by different traditional instruments from the islands, it talks about the natural beauty of each island and how, even if very different between each other, our hearts always beat as one, specially over Christmas.
Robbie: Working with some great people on the Save Our Scene MCR & Salford initiative and collectively raising £18K for out of work employees in the music scene. During the project I got to work with and meet some talented people in the Manchester music community and finally release some creative energy over lockdown curating the BRB compilation fundraiser.
David: Specially after being invited to play the Save Our Scene – Manchester and Salford livestream back in April, my highlight has definitely been meeting the friends I’ve met and feeling I’ve become part of the scene in the rainy city.
Robbie: Getting sweaty in The White Hotel for High Hoops 6th Birthday (or you could technically call it a belated 5th) - it has been missed a lot, going on holiday on a plane!! , saying bye to Ms Rona (plz), SEEING EVERYONE GETTING THE FUCKING VACCINE… Basically being allowed to have fun again.
David: Field Maneuvers 2021, seeing my family again and not a reality yet, but playing at The White Hotel and having a massive cry whilst doing so.
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.
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.
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.
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 :)
Here's some choons, new and old that kept us going in this weird as hell year. Hope you enjoy.
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.
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.
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
SP: It's actually entirely to do with the pubs reopening. Enjoy with caution
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!
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 🐇
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.
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.
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.
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.
Tried to keep it as weird as possible. And shed some light on some smaller acts from Bristol to Chicargooooooo.
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.
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
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 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 :)
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
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.
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?
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."
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: 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!
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
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.
