Paranoid London Paranoid London Paranoid London Records
The acid purists loosen their vinyl-only policy with a digital release of their debut LP. Originally out on vinyl late last year, it bundles unreleased material with the raw, 303-driven jams that have sur- faced over the years.
Since 2007, the low profile crew’s straight-to-tape style workouts have quietly risen in parallel with two very different waves – hyper-sanitised house, and noise-techno crossover. PL’s unapologetically grubby sound may lie in total opposition to the former, yet doesn’t quite fit with the latter. Eating Glue’s overweight bassline may be crude and unruly, but the crunched up toms and tambourines are dropped into the rhythm with such precision that the impact is massive. It’s dirty, yet minimal, and it’s bloody effective.
The guest vocals are a big part of what makes this such a killer. The inclusion of Chicago house original Paris Knightbridge is obviously genius, and Paris Dub 1’s brooding, run-down groove sounds as sweet and deadly as ever.
But it’s Mulato Pintado’s oddball ramblings that lend Paranoid London something really special. “Keep your hands in your pockets / Don’t act funny / I worked all week for this money” – their unlikely inclusion somehow captures how fucking weird it can get down there in the club, when you’re a little far gone and lost in the smoke, feeling freaky, feeling good.