Features / Bristol
Bristol’s best record shops
We are truly living in the vinyl renaissance: sales of the format are on the up, April’s annual Record Store Day has grown beyond a niche event, and although it would have seemed beyond belief a few years ago, when HMV plunged into administration, new record shops are opening. Of course, Bristol has HMVs – see Broadmead and Cribbs Causeway – and even a Fopp on Park Street, but what every music-loving fresher should take the time to explore is Bristol’s crop of independent record shops.
Rise Records (soon to be Rough Trade Bristol)
Rise is the indie record shop of dreams – complete with coffee shop Rise and plenty of big names playing in-store gigs. However, at the end of this summer, it’s moving location to Nelson Street and becoming a Rough Trade. If Bristol’s Rough Trade is anything like the London or Nottingham branches, it’s going to be a pretty special place.
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Prime Cuts
Another favourite is Gloucester Road’s Prime Cuts. Almost hidden in the basement of vintage clothes shop RePsycho (worth checking out in itself – its selection of ‘wavy garms’ is enough to make any Bristol student’s mouth water) Prime Cuts is a genre spanning second-hand treasure trove, and probably the best place to go crate digging in Bristol.
PK Music Exchange
Also on Gloucester Road and worthy of an honourable mention is PK Music Exchange. Whilst primarily this is a shop selling instruments, DJ equipment and sound systems, the top floor is mainly filled with vinyl. Given the nature of PK, the selection isn’t quite as broad as in Prime Cuts, but if you’re on Gloucester Road, it’s definitely worth a visit.
Wanted Records
Housed in the beautiful St Nick’s Market, Wanted Records is a truly wonderful place, but for more than just its location. Its walls are decorated to the ceiling with LPs, in homage to the fact that vinyl is the only format they stock. This, coupled with the shop’s incredibly knowledgeable and friendly staff means that Wanted Records is no doubt host to the best record shopping atmosphere the city has to offer.
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