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Writers at the Financial Times recently published an impressive list of the top record stores on the entire planet – and in great news for London’s audiophile community, several stores in the capital made it into the mix.
The FT’s list spanned some of the world’s biggest music cities, from New York and Paris to Sydney. Several places in the UK, including Leeds, Edinburgh and Stroud, also made the cut – in other words, London’s record shops were in very good company. So, which shops featured?
RECOMMENDED: 🎶 London’s 30 best record shops, according to Time Out.
Sounds of the Universe
Stocking every music genre you can think of (and many more), Sounds of the Universe is on Soho’s Broadwick Street. Also the HQ of British record label Soul Jazz Records, the store houses everything from dubstep and punk rock to bossa nova and jazz. With frequent international stock shipments from across the world (including Jamaica, Brazil and Japan), SotU is a hotspot for all sorts of music lovers.
Third Man Records
Right by Carnaby Street, Third Man Records is an American chain, with this store being the first and only outside the USA. It was founded and personally designed by Jack White (from the White Stripes).
With its banana yellow interior and exterior, the store houses a vast range of vinyls, but has a truly special basement area. As well as putting on intimate gigs of varying genres, ‘The Blue Basement’ also has a recording booth where artists and the public can directly record their own creations onto vinyl, and a lucky dip book machine.
Honest Jon’s
On west London’s legendary Portobello Road, Honest Jon’s is an independent record shop that has been open on its spot since 1974. The store particularly centres on blues, dance, folk, jazz, reggae, soul, and specialises in ‘outernational music’. Honest Jon’s also has a pocket-sized store in Coal Drops Yard, and a record label of the same name.
Hawkeye Enterprises and Starlight Records
These trailblazers of northwest London’s reggae scene had a tremendous impact on Harlesden’s music in the ’70s. They remain among the city’s best record shops – though they’re a little smaller than they used to be. Hawkeye Enterprises now shares its space with a Caribbean bakery and Starlight Records is reduced to pretty much a corridor, but the two remain bastions of Black British music.
Rough Trade, Denmark St
The flagship store just off Brick Lane may be better known to the masses, but Rough Trade’s Denmark Street shop – which only opened last year – was the one that made the FT’s top global list. The space features everything from a lovingly curated selection of vinyl and CDs, to gigs, listening parties and signings.
Soul Brother Records
Squeeze into this store in East Putney and you find yourself in a musical Tardis. Established in 1994 by brothers Laurence and Malcolm Prangell, Soul Brother Records houses over 10,000 collector jazz, soul, and funk records, as well as more than 3,000 CDs.
You can find the Financial Times’ full list of the world’s best record shops with the original article here.
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