Brighton Music Directory
Record Shops in Brighton
From
roaming gangs of b-boys hungry for unplundered breakbeats to lovers of irony,
looking for long-forgotten aberrations to love, anew, ironically. Brighton
offers a high concentration of decent, independent, new and second hand record
shops, and this is a good thing. A hundred quid, a few compilations and bosh
bosh bosh, you’re a DJ.
| 25 North Street,
Brighton |
01273 771959 | www.thisisape.com |
Ape isn't just a cool independent website, it also has a shop in Brighton (and one in Tunbridge Wells).
| 41
Gardner St, North Laine |
01273 818611 |
Brighton’s
best independent for new vinyl and CDs. Funk’n’rock and soul’n’roll,
judicious hip hop and drum & bass, all priced fair and decent. The owner was
a personal friend of the late, great Byrd, Gene Clark, and the UK Air Guitar
Champion works here.
| 4 Bartholomews, The Lanes | 01273 747400 | www.bpm-music.co.uk |
A
young upstart dealing in house and techno. Keeps most of its records behind the
counter for added intimidation. Only serious DJs need apply.
| 39a Sydney St, North Laine | 01273 624774 |
Specialising
in ‘advanced electronic music’, offering a knowledgeable and enthusiastic
service to anyone who’s simply up for checking out some good records.
| 129 Western Rd, Hove | 01273 220023 |
Best
in Brighton for drum’n’bass, also sells techno and hip hop reissues.
Friendly and enthusiastic staff should be able to sort you out if you’re lost
in the jungle.
| 111 Gloucester Rd. North Laine | 01273 676509 |
A
reasonably bohemian mix of jungle, breakbeats and reggae, with considerate seats
for shopped-out girls while their b-boy boyfriends rifle through the racks.
| First Floor, 6 Kensington Gardens, North Laine | 01273 628262 |
Upstairs in the Hive retail collective, the place for all contemporary curios, lo-fi, independents and hip hop. Contains bewildering genres you didn’t know had been invented packed in impossibly tight racks.
| 91 Trafalgar St. North Laine | 01273 571605 | www.bangingtunes.com |
Looks
like a flaky flouro outlet, but along with its virtual equivalent is responsible
for filling the record bags of hard house DJs all around the world. Also trance,
nu nrg and techno. Banging tunes indeed.
RECORDLAND
| 40 Trafalgar St. North Laine | 01273 672512 |
Real old Brighton seeps out of every crooked, damp joist of this chaotic shrine to all the ages of vinyl records. The place to come for oddities, country, jazz and soundtracks of movies you never knew were made.
| 8 Terminus Rd, Brighton | 01273 323853 |
Extraordinary,
as unique as it gets and the oldest record shop in the UK. Run by the venerable
George Ginn who sells only mint condition vinyl, mostly soundtracks and is a man
of global repute. Sound him out on the subject of CDs (they represent the
downfall of civilisation), and elicit a magnificent stream of gentlemanly ire.
ROUNDER RECORDS
| 19 Brighton Square, The Lanes | 01273 325440 |
Another institution of venerable longevity. Good for new vinyl, independent and major, its selection getting better all the time. Major ticket outlet for gigs.
WAX FACTOR
| 24 Trafalgar St. North Laine | 01273 673744 |
Paradise
for eternal bedroom boys. Good for hoary old chestnuts and blues with a
treasure-trove basement, full of 7” and 12’ artifacts.
Equal space given to books, the crime and occult sections being noteworthy.
Reviews by Nick Elson & Lyndsey Winship
Directory listings are mostly kindly supplied by:
The views expressed above are those of the given authors and do not necessarily represent those of the editor or of Sounds Phenomenal.
These listings are not meant to be exhaustive and their accuracy will change over time as old shops close and new shops open. There may also be establishments that have been missed out in this directory. If you would like your music shop to be included here, or your details as given above are inaccurate or incomplete, then please submit the correct information to mail [a] soundsphenomenal [dot] org and we'll endeavor to include or update your details as soon as we can.
