Vinyl Heritage Month (the month of April) is drawing to a close, so our last newsletter in this series looks at some of the record stores you need to know. Though they are few, they hold the mantle between pressing plants who press vinyl, and buyers who play wax.
Here are some of the stores you should know:
London:
LionVibes – one of London’s only dedicated Reggae record shop with expert staff and a unrivalled selection of Reggae from the foundation to the future. Make sure you check their free event every week ‘Selectors Thursdays’.
https://www.lionvibes.com/site.php
Sounds Of The Universe – Home to the Soul Jazz Records imprint and a mainstay of Soho’s vast array of record shops, S.O.T.U. stocks a carefully curated range of new releases, essential reissues and 2nd hand rarities.
https://soundsoftheuniverse.com/info
Flashback – Always an amazing selection of Reggae at their 3 shops (Angel, Shoreditch, Crouch End). All genres are covered however you can expect some serious Reggae rarities & classics in abundance, which are always reasonably priced, plus super friendly and knowledgeable staff.
Toronto:
Play De Record: Play De Record has served the Toronto music community for over 25 years. They are a classic vinyl record store and one stop shop for Music lovers and DJs coming to the city. As one of the few vinyl shops that can properly classify itself as a DJ store, the venerable record purveyor has long been a destination for the city’s medley of DJs—from the turntablists to the producers—and, in its heyday, even had international legends as heavy as Nas, Raekwon, and drum & bass trailblazer Goldie digging through their crates.
Learn More: https://www.playderecord.com/
Jamaica:
Randy’s: Nestled in the hustle and bustle of the shopping district at North Parade in downtown Kingston is Randy’s ‘Studio 17’, an oasis that was integral in the early development of reggae music in Jamaica.
Located upstairs one of the shops in the area, Randy’s ‘Studio 17’, now a “museum”, may have lost much of its sheen from its heydays but still attracts visitors from as far away as Switzerland, Germany, Japan, Brazil, and France.
Learn More: https://jamaica.loopnews.com/content/randys-studio-17-musical-oasis-heart-downtown-kingston-595616