Having come of age to a walkman-delivered soundtrack of golden-era hip hop jams I’m a sucker for the romance and mythology of New York city. My own time record shopping there was an all too brief period in 2007 and I’ve been itchy to get back ever since. The following look at some of NY’s lesser-documented digging spots, contributed (again!) by Noise In My Head’s Michael K hasn’t helped. A libation of gratitude to him.

New York City – the big smoke. The birthplace of hip hop and disco and many booming generations of DJ culture. A great spot for you and thousands of record buyers. Things get competitive and shops have a fast turnaround. If you’re looking for a digger’s guide, the comprehensive breakdown over at Discogs’ International Record Store Index is an essential starting point. Though on a recent trip I observed that this is getting a little outdated so here’s a walk-through of some new or neglected second hand dealers. I’m again avoiding covering the A1 and Academy institutions as they’ve been documented so many times before. However, they’re still worth hitting daily!

I never walk out of this East Village spot empty handed. Ideal for buyers of soul, jazz, disco and hip hop, with splatterings of soundtracks, latin, rock, libraries etc. Crammed dollar bins beneath the racks. Scored a Brazilian lazy disco LP while my wingman filled a bag of soul LPs for practically donuts.

They have a sister store in Jersey which I’m yet to visit but some of the records warehoused here are listed on their discogs profile  (if there’s anything of interest they’ll apparently send it over to this East Village location). Barely a block away from Academy (415 East 12th St) which never disappoints.

 Big City Records, 521 E 12th St, Manhattan, NY 10009

One of the many tightly clustered spots on E 5th St, Good Records is always well stocked with secondhand jazz, rock, soul, disco, rap, house, latin, reggae, blues, folk and soundtrack LPs, 12″s and 45s. Top rarities behind the counter too.

The owner was once clearing a stash of sealed Bob Chance – It’s Broken originals and must either frequently travel to the African continent or have a great hookup there because he’s always dealing premium highlife, afrobeat and obscure Nigerian/Ghanan boogie titles on eBay. I had a nice bump into psych-hip hop MC/DJ Edan who was having some luck scouring the racks on a sunny afternoon.

Good Records, 218 E 5th St, Manhattan, NY 10003

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 to see some rarities filed away in “Progressive – Australia” as well as a Whirlywirld 7” on the wall. Found quite a few records that I’d been desperately seeking including Goblin’s Contamination soundtrack and an esoteric Rinder & Lewis alias, while a few friends blew my mind with some weapons they pulled out for public play. Given that these are not easy finds, prices were reasonable. There were also heaps of cheap boxes filled with random goodies around the counter. The owner made it a friendly experience.

F’lmore Records Sanko Bldg. 3F 2-1-8 Kitazawa, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Zzzzzoltan!! The best shop ever! This place was closed when I first got to Istanbul. When I came back two weeks later I checked again and lucky I did. I found everything I hoped for in the one crate. So happy. Was just pulling out stuff and quietly imploding with joy and elation. Okay Temiz, Özdemir Erdoğan, Mazhar ve Fuat, Elias Rahbani and more!

The dude who ran the place was so cool, very knowledgeable and has been the business for some time. Smoked cigarette after cigarette while popping on some crazy sounds. We just sat there and listened and chatted and smoked for ages. Think I was in the store for nearly 3 hours?! If I was there any longer I would have suggested getting some beers…

Zoltan Records, Caferaga Mahallesi, Sak ız Sokak 15/D Kadikoy Istanbul, Turkey

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 jump was playing crazy records the whole time. He even picked out some funky Turkish jams for me after I asked him if he could recommend any.

Found a Turkish record here for a lovely price that was at the top of my wantlist. Happy customer! Recommended store.

Plakhane, Hocazade sokak 22, Beyoğlu Istanbul, Turkey