empty sleeve

a blog about record shops

Category: Disco

Antik Teknik, Istanbul

This place is round the corner from Vintage and Rainbow 45. Worth hunting down as it has a couple of hundred records inside. I found a Euro-disco LP I’d had on my wantlist for a while but the super cool thing about the store was all the electronics. Walls of them. I don’t know much […]

Vinyl Kitchen, Ghent

Vinyl Kitchen is a great shop! Heaps of cool stuff. A real mix of everything. Listening booths are a good set-up: like you’re at an internet cafe. Nice to rest your legs in. Owner was very friendly, relaxed in-store vibe. Heaps of jazz, interesting world section. Great disco section! Found a killer Brazilian record here […]

Crocodisc, Paris

Just up the hill from Boulinier, this place has been around since 1978! Imagine the records that have come through in that time… Heaps and heaps of stock. A buzzing place. Music playing loud. I got the impression that there are guys in there assigned to different genres, as there were about four staff members  […]

Flashback, London

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 […]

Licorice Pie

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 […]

Record Exchange, Brisbane

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 […]

Montreal: A Digger’s Paradise

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 […]

Monster Melodies, Paris

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 […]

Discos Juando, Barcelona

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 […]

Ruff Trade, Berlin

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. […]