Went here with some local dudes and new friends David McFarline and Julian Horn and (non) collectively, we found some good things. A real mix. Nice library section, found a cool LP on ‘Selected Sound’. Great jazz, got a Polish LP full of hot grooves, I’ve been wearing that one out. Flashback was the first […]

Some much-overdue local love in these next few posts. It’s easy to think that the grass is greener and the crates are deeper in faraway places, but a day wandering inner city Melbourne (or Brisbane if you’re feeling adventurous) can be a reminder that you can stay local and still get lucky. Brunswick’s Round and […]

Thankfully not some concoction from Masterchef but a great record shop in Prahran. Established by owner Dave Reitman almost a decade ago, Licorice Pie has become a key destination for locals and out of towners alike – if I happen to be showing a vinyl-loving visitor round town I make sure I take them in […]

Another contribution from Mr Michael Kucyk who is clearly determined to shame me into posting more often. This time he discovers a Brisbane’s Record Exchange, which has certainly got me thinking it could be time to pay a visit to our northern cousins… The other week I found myself with a few hours to kill […]

A few years back I held a job in Balaclava and often used to spend my lunch breaks digging around a local goldmine known then as Warren’s Records. I’d first heard about Warren’s from the inimitable Mr Geoffrey Nees who I believe worked there at one time. He told me that it was a good […]

With respect to top notch establishments Big City, A1, Academy Annex, Good Records and Gimme Gimme, on a recent visit to NYC I found myself completely dissatisfied by the city’s saturated digging culture and felt the uncontrollable urge to explore new territory. Having lately developed a fascination with French sleazy funk, Afro, prog and boogie […]

Two more guest contributions by Gordy “Globe-Trotting” Zola. This time he checks out stores in Paris and Barcelona. Some folks have all the luck… Whoa, what a lot of stock!! So much that they had to put some on the roof! Monster Melodies features a wide range of genres and styles, with hidden gems and […]

Almost gave up on this place! It was very tricky to find in the winding alleyways of beautiful, bustling Barcelona. Discos Juando was the last store I visited on a day of digging through about ten and it was the favourite. Highly recommended. The store majors in jazz, soul and disco and understandably (given its […]

This and the following post are from Empty Sleeve’s first guest contributor: Mr Gordy Zola, who generously documented some of his recent European vacation for the site. Gordy hails from Melbourne and is a record collector and damn fine DJ. Clearly he’s no slouch with a camera either as these pictures attest. Over to him. […]

An unassuming store that I had a flick through and was about to leave when… I saw a little sign pointing downstairs. From first impression it seemed off limits as a bar style door had it closed. After leaving my bag with the nice shop owner I took the drop to an underground oasis! So […]