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. […]

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 […]

Part of the pleasure of record hunting in Tokyo is the sheer difficulty of finding the shops. For the navigationally-challenged (like me)  the Japanese street-addressing system can take some getting used to. But it makes reaching your goal even more rewarding when you finally do. After almost an hour trawling Dogenzaka and finding only yakitori […]

Visited City Country City – a beautiful secondhand record shop in Shimokitazawa, Tokyo in December 2009. Lovingly curated selection of jazz, rock, soul, psych, disco and folk. If that’s not enough, it’s named after a WAR song and you can buy beer and food to sustain you as you browse. The very friendly proprietor invited […]

Hear Now – one of Melbourne’s few remaining independent vinyl retailers – closed its doors in August 2009. A sad occurence for a number of reasons, not least because Hear Now was somewhere you could actually buy new vinyl. These places are becoming rarer – especially in Australia – and it’s sad to see a […]