record shopping in london

1) THESE records (lambeth North on the tube).
2) Sound 323
3) Tower records
4) Reckless (good second hand stuff)
5) Rough trade (covent garden is closest for me btu also have a shop in notting hill).

these are all the obvious ones

i quite like haggle vinyl on essex rd, islington. only vinyl and good for jazz, old school rave and jungle, and showtunes<

Plus record and tape exchange (v. small)

and excellent market too. lovely bread and cheese.

Selectadisc - BERWICK STREET

Sister Ray - BERWICK STREET

Resurrection Records - CAMDEN

MVE - CAMDEN

i have yet to visit Sound 323 - nr HIGHGATE TUBE.

[by the way Tower Records, in Camden closes today (Tower are closing all their UK stores apart from Piccadilly Circus and Kensington High St), and I have still yet to visit FOPP in 1 Earlham Street, Covent Garden ]

Anyone visited Fopp shop in London?

HMV are continually expanding in the UK, so maybe they could snap up the lease? presumably it's a lease and not owned by Tower?
[i am surprised HMV haven't arrived in Camden to date considering the amount of young people shopping in the area]

WhSmith don't have a store in Camden - so maybe?

I've always thought Rough Trade was overpriced.

There's another good one that I like down Portobello Road below zero?? something like that, the man who owns it is a big Nick Drake fan. Sells bootlegs etc.

no-one's mentioned the Soul Jazz Records shop Sounds of the Universe yet, on Ingstre Place, near Berwick St. and Dub Vendor in Ladbroke Grove and Clapham(?)

Does.not.compute...

do you too get a strange kick from the unspoken rack etiquette that goes on as people work their way through EVERYTHING but in different orders to each other?

On the other hand, I don't either.

The two Trojan comps I bought ("Socking Good Time", an obscuro rocksteady comp, and "Reggae Fever" by the Inspirations are also socking good. But then I pushed the boat out for them: they were £3 each. For shame.

http://www.soundgenerator.com/news/index.cfm?articleid=1466
It is reported that Tower Records, the record retail chain are to close all their remaining stores in the UK ending all ties with the British Isles.

there are far too many virgin megastores in london. i was hoping we might get swan & edgar back.

Elite on Vauxhall Bridge Road was the best record shop in the land.Sorry to see you go,guys.Good luck with the new label!

"a cheap 250mb external with fast USB for PC"

he'll be using it when he moves to Japan soon and he wants to try to buy one while he's visiting London. Any help on where to look would be good. TCR?

Record shopping in London talk seems to centre exclusively on TCR anyway, so it's not a million miles away from relevance. Sorry.

Yoyo tech is the most reputable of the disreputable bunch that are the TCR suppliers.

(i'm not sure i trust these things still, too many stories of them just failing)

i'd rather go for another plain old ide drive that i can install inside my case but your vaio would just look silly 8) (maybe network the other computer as a backup, stick a big disk in that, get rid of ME, stick linux on it, edubuntu or gcompris for ava)

xpost with Koogy - I need to look up whatcha talkin' about...

Of course, all of this is silly talk, as demonstrated by my dithering over whether to bulk up my M&S lunch to £2.30 by buying some crisps. Difficult decision, but the overdraft can just suck it up - they're handcooked, you muppets.

Has anyone been to the clearance sale at Rough Trade, Neals Yard? If so, any good bargains to be had?

Rough Trade West now has a second hand vinyl basement. Don't fucking bother, the prices are ludicrous, go to Intoxica instead (which is what I just did).

whenever i'm in the area i go into rough trade east with the best of vinyl intentions, and invariably leave empty handed. fuck right off with your £20+ lps.

Can never work out how RT get away with charging what they do (for everything, not just vinyl) and not going bust.

I knew it was going to be a waste of time when I saw the bargain bin was £5.

They were charging £20+ for records you can easily find for £5.

where are the best places for second hand vinyl nowadays? i quite like kristina but it's a bit on the expensive side itself, albeit generally not for things that you're going to find with ease elsewhere, but most of my vinyl purchasing ends up happening in the kingsland road oxfam.

Rough-trade used vinyl basement is a joke.. Even the 'sale' section in the main shop is overpriced...

Walk a bit further up and check out Honest Jons for cheap new vinyl..

I have been enjoying going to the main Notting Hill Record & Tape Exchange, unfashionably enough. I am mostly buying really cheap second hand 70s country vinyl these days, which as far as I can tell no-one else in the world cares about.

South-East London record hunting safari can be rewarding once in a while - I am putting this here even though I realise most of you won't consider these to be London at all. BUT:

- Rolling Records by West Wickham station is expensive but has quite a surprising selection of 70s stuff, and there always seems to be a soul record there I can't resist.

- Wanted Music in Beckenham is a proper, old-fashioned record store like they used to be - there's always something I want to buy and the dirty cheap section in the front of the shop does me proud.

I'm going to Notting Hill MVE this lunchtime as I leave this job tomorrow (at Kensington High St). They seem to have slowed down the price reduction thing, at least it seems I don't go in for a couple of months and everything I had my eye on is the same price.

Ach, missed yer.

So, MVE Camden is shut. kind of saw it coming, reducing the stock pretty quickly. Sad to see it go, when I lived in Kentish Town I the cheap CDs and Vinyl used to really cheer me up. On another tip can Rough Trade East get any worse? It's like they don't know what to do with the shop at all, and it's so expensive. Sad really when I think about how the Covent Garden shop shaped my musical tastes about 10 years ago.

It's like they don't know what to do with the shop at all

do you mean in terms of their stock? it has felt to me like they're trying to cover everything and the result is having a really random or shallow collection of stuff. it makes going with specific things in mind feel pointless. and yeah, then if you do find something it's like £18 for a single lp.

I was interested to note that the Clarks concession in RT East had gone last time I was in (I don't go very often anymore because I no longer work in the area). Assuming they are trying to turn the place into a kind of Alternative Selfridges with lots of concessions, Clarks always seemed a strange fit, but then it's not clear to me who the good fit would be.

I wouldn't be amazed to see the cafe part growing in proportion to the record shop part, getting more booze in, getting more involved in the "night-time economy" and less dependent on selling records.

The Gap started as a record shop.

Yeah, I'm moving out of the area, workwise, so making my last easy visits to MVE, RTE, Intox etc.

The Gap started as a record shop.

I had no idea! Did they stop selling records early on in their history?

(Also hi Tracer, we need to meet for a beer soon.)

xp yeah I did all those before I stopped working in Kensington - ah as documented on this very thread in fact.

Now I work in Battersea where there are no record shops at all. Probably just as well really, can't afford any at the moment.

where is actually still good? i brought my decks over from dublin recently, first time in 4.5 years being able to play vinyl

i mean for pretty much any type of music... not just house/techno.

I miss stumbling across random places, like Stevie's Sounds or that clammy, labyrinthine shop in Rupert St or the inexplicable punk music shop that sprung up off Bayham St in Camden.

You mean "Cheapos" in Rupert Street? When did that shut and why wasn't I informed at the time?

I don't think anywhere's amazing, really. I still enjoy trawling the dear old Record and Tape Exchanges, Honest Jon's is pretty good but could be cheaper, I quite like Flashback on Essex Road (and I am sure there is good stuff in Haggle but I can't stand being in the place). Wanted in Beckenham, as mentioned above, is a good old-fashioned record shop. the Soul Jazz shop in Soho is always good for a browse. Past those, most places seem to think they're doing you a favour by charging you £18 for an LP.

Oh I like the really skrunky soul / reggae shop down that side-road in Dalston, but I can't remember what it's called.

What makes me craziest is the prices most Oxfams charge for their records, but that's another story entirely.

xpost Cheapos went a couple of years back. My wife certainly wasn't sorry to see it go. I was in two minds.

Yep, It's been shut - I think - for at least a couple of years, I didn't venture in there too often cause it was reeeeealy cramped, I loved the fact that the further into the shop you ventured the more random it became with huge piles of promos stacked up holus bolus.

X -Post

The people who run Kristina records in Dalston seem like they have their hearts in the right place but it all seems a bit... curated. I miss big random piles of stuff to search through.

Some of the people who worked in Cheapos were genuinely dreadful, is the other thing.

That's what I loved about Stevie's (or was it Steve's) that random 3 for a tenner CD crates. with loads of random shit that they didn't care about or know how to price.

I think Cheapo's carried the wretchedness of Rupert St and it's denizens right inside.

It was a shame to lose Second Layer but at least you can still pick up records from the owner in person if you order online.

How is Rat Records in Camberwell?

Any other off the beaten track recommendation for picking up second-hand vinyl?

I'll offer up Alan's Records in East Finchley: http://www.alansrecords.com/page2.html

I love that place.

Haggle is worth a visit heard good things about Rat but never been in

Agree on the curated feeling of Kristina though that might be because they're kind of new

Rat's alright; I wouldn't make a trip specially (but then I live not to far away). They tend to price sensibly, which is a blessed relief.

I've never been to Alan's! Maybe I will.

Last rites time for what used to be DADA in Chiswick. It briefly shut in the early summer for a few weeks then reopened (officially nameless) just to clear as much stock as possible. Now discounting. As soon as they've got rid of as much as they can, will be closing for good.

Just went to Flashback. They've got a new, rather good new vinyl section. I picked up that Uncle Acid LP, plus a Pavement record.

went west for the first time earlier this week and it puts the east and centre to SHAME, intoxica has a really interesting selection (seems that it's on the verge of closing down, though), and honest jons, shiiit i could've spent thousands there without even touching the reggae and funk, which i wasn't expecting. i had to force myself to stop looking because i'd already gone way over the budget i'd set myself. (forgot that rough trade west was around there too, but i imagine they just bring the tone of the area down.)

while central i also bought a couple of records from sister ray and they seriously oversell their vinyl gradings. which i guess is pretty evident when their grubby dog-eared sleeves are apparently near mind.

As well as being awesome, Honest Jon's is also cheaper than everyone else for most of the stuff they stock.

yeah, having the usual london prices in mind was making everything that much more tempting.

sorry to hear abt intoxica's impending demise, gd shop gd ppl

Is anywhere selling new vinyl for reasonable prices these days? I spoke to someone at Rough Trade and he gave me the impression that the labels set the prices (£35 for the new Paul Weller LP!) and that even he thought that new vinyl prices had gotten crazy, squeezing a small constituency of affluent fanboys. It seems to vary depending on label/genre/artist but even the Hot Chip album, which I really want, is north of £20 which is silly to me.

Flashback in Crouch End sells new vinyl albums for £14.99. Not ideal, but at the moment it's probably as cheap as you're going to find.

Didn't know about Intoxica! It IS a shame but let's face it, in this day and age nobody can afford the prices they were asking, except maybe Paul Weller.

Because the LP is the 'deluxe' edition, the CD the cheapie, and the d/l the 'workingmans' format,

the pricing dictates itself.

Although, the last time LPs were sold en-masse, the quality of the pressing(s) were cut to the bone to allow a 'healthy' profit (I remember how bad the "Different Class" pressing used to be)

I'm not so sure about the pricing dictating itself. I look in half these shops and think: I'm not paying YOUR rent (which with these inflated prices is essentially what you're doing; cf. Amazon etc.).

Clarifying: "The pricing dictates itself" as in "what the market can stand"...

e.g. I bought a nice Kinks box set of "Pye albums", fashioned so that each disc was a 'facsimile' of the album's release somewhere in the world (Sweden, UK, spain, yadda etc), and it was priced usually around £25 or so.

Compare that to the recent "mono" box set, ostensibly the same albums but a 'nicer' box, a booklet and other things, and people were prepared to pay £64

It's like the Savages; the people who buy their new 12" won't be their fans, but Al Murray Pub Landlord types who will try to flog it for £300 on eBay one hour later.

That's the depressing thing - witness the price of the Massive Attack vs Burial 12" now. Mostly snapped up by hustlers.

Didn't know about Intoxica! It IS a shame but let's face it, in this day and age nobody can afford the prices they were asking, except maybe Paul Weller.

at the moment they have 25% off everything, so it seemed reasonable! they've had a few closing dates set that they've then managed to go beyond, but i guess now they're just waiting for the sales boost that this has brought about to simmer back down into being unprofitable before shutting down for good.

Oh god how I miss these places so...

I'd say HoJos is the best new record store in London, not just for the stock (not to mention the charm) but also because it is, as mentioned upthread, cheaper too.

are there any (new stock) record stores in london that aren't kristina, honest jons or phonica? record i want is sold out already in those three

Sounds of the Universe, Rough Trade? What are you looking for?

went to rat records in camberwell for the first time last night - awesome for second hand vinyl. everything priced so reasonably & the guy said that once a month he goes round the shop & marks down everything by £1 that hasnt sold. recommended!

I think I'm more obsessive about the condition of sleeves than most (and it seems like there's a contrarian thing where hardcore vinyl dudes think if you ARE too fixated on that kind of thing, you're not about the music, man, or whatever), but it drives me slightly nuts that the Music & Video Exchange in both Notting Hill and Soho just throw the sleeves in those ratty wooden racks with no attention to preserving how they look - almost everything is beat up to hell in there and if it isn't at first it will be after a day or two of grubby hands flipping through 'em.

I found a record I wanted in the Soho one the other day for £25 and asked if they would take an offer on it and the guy just said "Nope, never," which fair enough, but it was a drag knowing that within a day or two it would be shredded in those racks (didn't bother me enough to shell out, though).

Don't get me started on the M&VE sleeve condition thing. I just don't understand it.

You mean you don't understand people who care about sleeve condition, or you don't understand why they're such dicks about letting everything get beat, bent, scuffed, dinged, creased, etc.?

The dudes in there are often playing great music but they really run with the aloof, rude clerk stereotype. I almost salute it as a 90s throwback.

Lately I've been having recurring dreams about going to the Greenwich MVE, but getting there always turns out to be this wizard-of-oz type super long trek to this magical faraway place (at least to a greater extent than in real life), such that I don't think I ever end up it making it there.

anyone been to the couple of new places that have opened around new cross / deptford? haven't made it myself, i think one is called 'vinyl', which is quite easy to remember, not sure about the other one.

What are the best record stores in London if you want to buy classical music on CD? I'm especially interested in Baroque and pre-Baroque recordings (Renaissance dances, medieval church music, troubadour songs, etc), and labels like Harmonia Mundi, Hyperion, Raumklang, and so on. Also would love to find some contemporary classical on indie labels that isn't easily available on Amazon.

Not really my field, but you might start at Harold Moore on Great Marlborough Street on Soho: http://www.hmrecords.co.uk

yep definitely that one.

The new one opened by Goldsmiths on New Cross high street is pretty good actually. Only stocks brand new/reissue stuff, albums are decently priced (between £10-15 for an LP, £8-10 for a cd, cassettes are about £4 a pop), singles are a bit dear at £8 a go...loads of Hyperdub stuff in, other decent labels seem to have provided a few gems. Yeah, worth popping in. It's just called 310 NX Road. Part of Mathew Herbert's NX Records collab with our college.

The owner of Vinyl came into my work the other but I've not been in yet, will head down tomorrow.

Harold Moore looks like the place to go, and it's near the hotel I'm staying, thanks for the recommendation! If you know some other stores specializing in classical, let me know.

also, if i may be obvious, hmv oxford street has (had?) a large classical section (been years since i've visited). maybe foyles bookshop in charing cross road is worth a visit as well.

hmv oxford street's classical section has been completely gutted - it's not even in its dedicated space anymore, it's where the jazz used to be iirc. it's still got a bunch of records but... it's really sad-looking.

harold moore's is great: there's also a small selection of classical cds at the back of the music shop across the street (schott's?). always used to be a good second-hand place on Lower Marsh, near Waterloo station.

Apart from Moore I used to go hit the classical branch from Notting Hill rec & tape exchange.