Well, probably not. Dim Sim goldmine, sure.  But I did walk out of this textbook music stall with the 12″ dub mix of Womack and Womack’s Life Is Just A Ballgame; the 7″ of Thinking of You by Paul Weller; Tom Tom Club’s The Man With the Four-Way Hips 12″ (already owned but couldn’t leave it […]

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 […]

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 […]

Not strictly a record shop but they sell records, as well as all kinds of knick-knackery. Apparently this stall is run by the guy that used to have Yarraville Records, which is now closed. The selection is mainly rock and pop, but there are several crates of 12s and loads of 7s. You could get […]

Vinyl Solution reminds me of the record shops where I used to waste time (mine and the management’s) as a kid. It’s in a nondescript suburban shopping precinct but inside there’s enough eye-popping goodness to keep you occupied for hours. Vinyl Solution is comprehensively stocked and really well organised. No flicking through random crates here. […]

Northside specialises in a lovingly curated selection of what an ethnomusicologist might call “the music of the African diaspora”. We call it a crate-digging paradise. It’s located in the heart of Fitzroy, but you won’t find hipster jams and nu-disco here. While Northside’s focus is very much on soul, Latin, reggae, jazz, hip hop, Afrobeat, […]

I discovered The Searchers one morning circa 2008 while loitering near the corner of Smith and Gertrude waiting for a cheese and tomato toasty from Dr Java. Having only recently opened, the shop contained just a few shelves of secondhand books and some bins of used records. A noncommittal browse yielded instant results (a Supermax […]