Record Shops in London

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Sick Boy

All about pride and egos
I just moved to London, and I'm looking for good record shops around the city both for used and new records. I'm obviously well-versed on the underground dance music end (Uptown, BM Soho, Rhythm Division, Independance etc.), but I'm looking for ones that, in particular, stock lots of 1970s-era British and non-british reggae, and British and American punk rock. Vinyl and CD formats are both good.

All other suggestions are welcome though: for instance, any good dancehall stockists would come very welcome to me too. It'd also be good just to have some sort of reference guide for anybody who checks this forum innit.

Thanks in advance!
 
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baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
Honest Jon's in west London is apparently good for reggae...must be quite a few places in Brixton too.
 
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Logos

Ghosts of my life
If you are in Soho for dance you'll no doubt end up in Sister Ray so check out their selection...good place for reggae reissues and such like as opposed to originals. They sell punk, metal etc too.
 
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petergunn

plywood violin
Sick Boy said:
I'm looking for ones that, in particular, stock lots of 1970s-era British and non-british reggae, and British and American punk rock.
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record exchange in nottinghill is pretty good and cheap (for london) for old punk stuff... check the 45 room upstairs...
 
ifp

ifp

Well-known member
try sounds of the universe (just of berwick st)? yeah the record exchange shop in notting hill is pretty good. the old reckless records in berwick st used to be quite good, not sure if it still will be when they get back up and running. theres a reggae shop called regal records in hackney that i've been past a million times but never been in so not really sure what they stock.
 
ifp

ifp

Well-known member
Logos said:
If you are in Soho for dance you'll no doubt end up in Sister Ray so check out their selection...good place for reggae reissues and such like as opposed to originals. They sell punk, metal etc too.
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and also dubstep, grime, drum n bass, etc etc. they sell pretty much everything!
 
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DannyL

Wild Horses
what's the deal with that new rough trade east store? good?
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It is good. Lots of vinyl, and a pretty thorough coverage of all the bases that you'd expect Rough Trade to do well - Americana, Indie etc. i didn't find as many weirdo interesting looking bits as the Covent Garden store but this may be because there was a similar amount of stock packed into more space.
 
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Rachel Verinder

Well-known member
yeah, that's what's sort of put me off going there, the suspicion that they haven't increased the amount of music they have in stock but just put it in a bigger space and pretended that it's a better shop.

also i don't approve of all this wi-fi link-up/coffee bar/live stages stuff. i go to a record shop to buy records and that's all i want to see when i go in there.

what they should have done is increased the stock tenfold and also put a big second-hand section in there; they've really missed a trick if they haven't done that.
 
Woebot

Woebot

Well-known member
Rachel Verinder said:
also i don't approve of all this wi-fi link-up/coffee bar/live stages stuff. i go to a record shop to buy records and that's all i want to see when i go in there.
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coffee bars especially. so depressing when the store-owners become baristas :confused:
 
sodiumnightlife

sodiumnightlife

Sweet Virginia
i like rough trade east. they've hardly got any of the stock out yet either supposedly (this is waht they told me.) So there should be plenty more gems coming out the woodwork.
 
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tryptych

waiting for a time
Rachel Verinder said:
yeah, that's what's sort of put me off going there, the suspicion that they haven't increased the amount of music they have in stock but just put it in a bigger space and pretended that it's a better shop.
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Yeah - big space but not actually that many records...

also i don't approve of all this wi-fi link-up/coffee bar/live stages stuff. i go to a record shop to buy records and that's all i want to see when i go in there.

what they should have done is increased the stock tenfold and also put a big second-hand section in there; they've really missed a trick if they haven't done that.
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But isn't the problem that in the current climate it's very hard to stay in business just selling music? There's just not enough people who just buy records to keep these places going. The coffee bar/live space may be essential to keep the place running.

Would you rather have a record shop with wi-fi, food & drink and live space, or no record shop at all?
 
IdleRich

IdleRich

IdleRich
hmm, faced with that "choice" i may well bite the bullet and go on amazon full-time...
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I don't get that at all. If you don't want coffee don't get any but if that's what it takes for the shop to exist I'm all for it. And anyway I like coffee.
I've heard that there will be more stock there soon either way. Anyone know for definite if it will do second-hand stuff?
 
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Rachel Verinder

Well-known member
beanos is still going, albeit on one floor only and sans coffee. still just about the only possible reason why anyone would want to go to croydon, though memory lane is good for fifties/sixties stuff.
 
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Tweak Head

Well-known member
tryptych said:
... But isn't the problem that in the current climate it's very hard to stay in business just selling music? There's just not enough people who just buy records to keep these places going. The coffee bar/live space may be essential to keep the place running.

Would you rather have a record shop with wi-fi, food & drink and live space, or no record shop at all?
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Also you have to think about where the place is and the crowds they need to attract. It's in Brick Lane where there are lots of groovy little coffee bars with free wi-fi and I guess they thought that if they can snag some of the types that wash around there, as well as those who will make the journey to go to a Rough Trade shop, they can sell some record to them.

BTW, on the point of free wi-fi I don't know why people try to charge for wi-fi access now. It's so cheap to provide and attracts people in.
 
polymorphic

polymorphic

Spatt Mendlove
Leo said:
what's the deal with that new rough trade east store? good?
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I was very underwhelmed actually. Perhaps that's cos I recently went to Ameoba in San Fran (which I thought was the model? ). It seems tiny in comparison, really talking size over specific content (but the two are intrinsically linked).

Still, it's early days and I wish them the best of luck..
 
J

joe2

New member
Have you checked out Alan's Records on East Finchley High Road?

Their number and address is here: http://www.alansrecords.com/

(Just a few minutes' walk from East Finchley tube on the Northern Line.)

Alan's a really nice guy. Give him a call and see if he's got the kind of stuff you're after.
 
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