empty sleeve

a blog about record shops

Category: Balearic

Red Light Records, Amsterdam

The recently Europe-relocated Gordy Zola  changed the colour of my day with this inspiring description of a new store recently opened in the ‘Dam. Red Light Records guarantees a happy ending… Imagine if you will, your favourite DJs opening a record store together. For myself and a whole lot of others this came true as […]

South Melbourne Market: Balearic Goldmine?

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 […]

F’lmore Records, Tokyo

One for all of the trippers out there, F’lmore carries psychedelia and counterculture across all eras, in every variety possible. These amazing records are tightly packed with ingenious descriptive labels – “Spiritual Afro”; “Ambient/New Age/ECM/Chill Out/Raga”; “Minimal Electro/Synth Beats/Cosmic”; “Progressive – Spain”; “CTI, Groove Fusion” and “Brazil/Bossa Nova/MPB” to name but a few. Was impressed […]

Rare Groove, Osaka

Run by Norio, an all-time nice guy, local party promoter and inspirational DJ, Rare Groove is an absolute must for Osaka visitors. Great records across the board here, thanks to Norio who constantly jets to the States to dig deep and has a trusted network of international dealers. Definitely caters far beyond its “Rock, Disco, […]

Revelation Time, Osaka

Within walking distance of Rare Groove, Revelation Time is a magical store that I’ll never forget. Its owner Eiji speaks fluent English, having previously lived in London and travels to Utrecht twice a year. Eiji’s stock stands alone as being very Euro-centric but also accommodates a lot of US, Canadian, Bollywood and South American music. […]

Maru Ka Batsu, Shinsaibashi, Osaka

I had great memories of discovering this store by accident in the final hours of a previous visit to Osaka. Three years later, it certainly lived up to my recollections. This is an absolute must for fans of progressive rock with sections marked for French, Italian, Dutch, German, Japanese and general Euro. Strange continuity of […]

Record Collector, Antwerp

I read the reviews of this place on Record Junkie  before I made the trip and quite frankly I was put off! Having had the negative experience of being kicked out of a record store in Berlin, diggers comments about this place sounded all to familiar. I didn’t even bother writing down the address but […]

Librairie Boulinier, Paris

Second hand book stores are where you can really strike gold! There is so much stock coming in constantly as Parisians come off the streets with pre-loved items they hope to get a few euro for. Stuff is priced cheap so they can keep stock flowing in and out again. Really worth a good dig […]

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 […]

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 […]