Paranoid London Details

Founded in 2007, Paranoid London released ‘One Last Riot’ their first high quality 180 gram pressing onto the market the same year and they’ve since released a stellar string of acid house cuts that have quickly sold out.

Illusive isn’t really the best word to describe them considering that they’ve never given an interview and never will do. It’s kind of core to their principles, but with their debut live set in Farringdon coming up this May we went on an investigative mission to pool what little information there is out there and try and introduce them properly, giving you a five pointed fabric guide to Paranoid London.

1. They don’t do promo.

Paranoid London’s agenda was set out clearly from their first release with the only words to explain what they’re about existing on their one sheets - a document sent to record shops to give some background on the record for their buyers. Nothing was ever sent to press, nor was there a marketing plan, it was all about doing things differently in response to an environment where labels are forced to push really hard to be heard and sell records.

Paranoid London are aiming direct for your record player – circumventing all the words, hype and promotional activities that they clearly feel is superfluous to the music.

2. They’re vinyl only, all the way.

You’ll actually be pretty hard pressed to get hold of Paranoid London’s releases - some we’ve seen listed on discogs for nearly £100. Each record is cut heavy on 180g vinyl which pretty much guarantees their tracks are going to carry an equal amount of weight when they get dropped on a suitably strong system. It’s not a totally elitist operation though, they’ve upped most of their tracks for streaming in full on their Soundcloud page, so even if you missed out on buying the record yourself or can’t reach their inflated second hand prices, the music is still available to hear.

3. They really know how to pick guest vocalists.

While firmly affiliated with London’s acid house legacy there are some serious head nods directed at the Windy City. Admittedly, UK producers did borrow a lot from Chicago’s original house cuts back in the day, so it makes sense that they have invited some of those original vocalists - the likes of Paris Brightledge, K-Alexi - to put vocals to their tracks. There’s also an unknown on the bill: Mutado Pintado. We’ve done our digging and this dude seems to have come from nowhere but he certainly has that special thing going on too.

Having the vocals on their music gives Paranoid London an extra edge in our opinion, lacing the tracks with that extra bit of personality, soul and individuality. We think the one that sings the loudest is ‘Paris Dub 1’…

4. Their collection of vintage synths is their power.

Amongst their collection of one sheets, the mysterious outfit tend to include some clues on what exactly makes up their synthesiser collection. The whole ethos and aesthetic is built on having real and vintage machines shaping the tracks – you can definitely feel that when you listen but sometimes they’ll limit themselves to just working with two or three machines per track. It’s might sound simple but it’s evidently a process done properly.

5. Their live sets kick hard.

As per their studio workings, their live set also harnesses the raw power of hardware, something which never holds back. When they join us live in RM1 this May it will actually be their first time playing in Farringdon but we’ve hunted down this live set recording from their Soundcloud page to give more of an indication of exactly what can be expected.