empty sleeve

a blog about record shops

Category: Music

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 […]

Zoltan, Istanbul

Large scale thanks go out to world traveler, DJ, occasional poncho-wearer and record collector Gordy Zola who has contributed the following amazing store reviews plus photographs from his recent Euro trip… Zzzzzoltan!! The best shop ever! This place was closed when I first got to Istanbul. When I came back two weeks later I checked […]

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 […]

Plakhane, Istanbul

Whoa! Plakhane is a super nice store. Air conditioning, polished floor boards, great racks, listening table, sweet Turkish cuts! Thought I was never going to find it and had almost given up after a good half hour of fruitless laneway wandering, then I found it opposite a kind of car park. The dude behind the […]

Rainbow 45, Istanbul

The guy at this store is so nice! He has been collecting and dealing for years and has many stories of his travels he’s willing to share over a complimentary tea. I have fond memories of lying back on the steps in the store (that lead up to a small cafe), in awe of Baris […]

Vintage Records, Istanbul

This one was tricky to find (though my internal compass is always off!) Apologies for the dud photos but I didn’t have my camera the first time I visited and when I came back, it was closed. At least we can show what the front looked like… Nice set up in here. Well ordered, heaps […]

Plakçi Hamit, Istanbul

Unfortunately the address for this shop is drawing blanks when I Google it. I stumbled upon this place so I didn’t have an address to reference in the first place. It’s near the other  record stores in Kadikoy so you could probably ask the staff for directions. This shop really had everything. Killer stuff and […]