The Most Beautiful Record Stores in the World

The Thing – Brooklyn, NY

Beauty is a subjective thing, of course, and there’s just as much ramshackle appeal in the dusty crates of Greenpoint icon The Thing as there is in the graceful space of Rough Trade. This place is the archetypal record geek’s paradise, a maze of unlabeled vinyl that has some strange internal logic that makes no sense to anyone who doesn’t work there.

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gardzap47 5 pts

The Thing in Brooklyn looks like my kind of store. Bring the wet naps andstart gigging. You never know what you kind find here.

grrbby 5 pts

sheet music stores around the world can be very interesting.

 

AndrewZitcer 5 pts

I think I had a dream that prominently featured Spacehall in Berlin -- though I have never been there before.

bobofarabia 5 pts

I went to the store in Cairo last year. Very small and cool, the guy running it was nice. I picked up some Egyptian vinyl, Um Khathom, and some sweet 80's stuff, Bangles maybe. I need to get back there sometime soon, hard to wade through all of the protestors though lately.

LumiKartuuni 5 pts

Batucada records Oslo probably been gone 10 years or so. Interesting interior maybe but the record selection wasn't the most interesting certainly. Unless you were into jazzy house music 10 years ago. But they did have blacklights and an aquarium (which every record store should have).

russellkeef 5 pts

The Record Album (Brighton) an ancient store that specialises in soundtracks but that didn't stop me finding the very obscure Teemates album there, the octiginarian proprieter then asked "Would sir like a gratis record case with that" after noticing my hefty record pile, The Record Collector (LA, Melrose) Sanders might be a bit of a grump who prices his records too high but it's worth it just wallow in the sheer wonderful strangeness of the place, Mojo Record Bar (Sydney) a good record store and a cracking bar with the locally micro-brewed Young Henrys on tap, 

 

russellkeef 5 pts

(continued) I just wish Strider Records in NYC was still open, a place that requires you to fetch the proprietor from the local tavern so he can play you a hefty pile of obscure vocal-group records and was so jammed that you couldn't just browse the racks but if you asked for something chances are he had it or something close enough to keep you happy. Downstairs at the Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland is pretty damn great too. Beauty, it seems, is in the eye of the beholder.

MUStaff1 5 pts

The mainstream, corporate-owned Tower and Tsutaya are your choices for Tokyo? Have you actually visited this city, or did you just pull the info off of Wikipedia? There are at least two dozen — maybe even more — amazing record shops just two blocks from the Tower store in Shibuya. (Reco Fan and Yellow Pop are my personal faves.)

SebastianMathews 6 pts

If this is actually a beauty contest, then @TouchVinyl better be entered! http://goo.gl/DeHx9

teleclimber 5 pts

 SebastianMathews  TouchVinyl <<got shunned but Ameoba Music is considered "beautiful"?

nostaWelyK 5 pts

 teleclimber  SebastianMathews Get some decent records in there and maybe people will show up - Vacation and Mount Analog are heads above your stock.

Tobs 5 pts

check out this beautiful little gem in Vienna, Austria: Tongues, Records and Deli!http://www.weheart.co.uk/2010/09/14/tongues-vienna/

JohnNoi 5 pts

Are these record stores or record museums?

cinnamon_girl 5 pts

I think a gem can be found in @radio-active records in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. They have live music parties in-store, sponsor cultural events around town and have a fantastically huge and eclectic assortment of albums, vinyl or CD. The staff is just as sexy as the store itself. Not to be missed!

LizMitchell 5 pts

I have another candidate for you. Bevans Music in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. Been there since 1964 and its fab 60s interior is still intact. It's a total gem. See www.bevansmusic.com

AndreaGorzellHickey 6 pts

This is total BS! where is House of Guitars in dear old RaChaCha or Sound Garden in Baltimore!  I call shenanigans on Tom Hawking!

thawking 23 pts moderator

 AndreaGorzellHickey Sure, I'll make sure to check out the House of Guitars next time I'm in... um... RaChaCha?

AndreaGorzellHickey 6 pts

 thawking lol!  Rochester NY.  The guys that own and run the store look like they just finished an orgie w. circa 1970s Lou Reed.  They have been at it since the 60s. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl8ThZ4Nnjk&list=UU4Kx27jhczWW2VhiNGPi0SQ&index=5