These analogue-first stores and bars should be on every Australian music fan’s radar.
Whether you’re dipping your toe into the world of LPs or have years of collecting under your belt, everyone is welcome in the world of vinyl. And with World Record Store Day on 20 April each year, it’s our time to hit the decks.
From cafe-meet-record stores to listening bars stocking enviable vinyl collections, here are our top picks of the best record shops in Australia.
Victoria
1. Greville Records
Just off Chapel Street in this upmarket portion of South Yarra in Melbourne is Greville Records: which is more about edgy vintage than the surrounding trendy boutiques. Stop by here for a huge range of new and second-hand vinyl, uber-cool posters and vintage gig flyers.
Explore edgy vinyl at Greville Records.
Address: 183 Gertrude St, Fitzroy Vic
2. L’Espresso Ballarat
This cafe-meets-record shop in Ballarat serves up brunch, lunch and music to locals and travellers.
Smash a delectable eggs benny before heading to their wall-to-wall stash of records and flicking through their collection. Just make sure to wash any leftover yolk off your fingers first…
Flick through their amazing collection.
Address: 417 Sturt St, Ballarat Vic
3. Rocksteady Records
After some local vinyl? Rocksteady Records in the Melbourne CBD stocks plenty in the way of Australasian tunes, alongside international reggae, funk, soul, jazz and more.
Stock up on some local vinyl at Rocksteady Records.
Address: Mitchell House, Level 1, 358 Lonsdale St, Melbourne Vic
NSW
4. Repressed Records
A Sydney institution smack bang in the alternative, nonconformist neighbourhood of Newtown.
Repressed Records is a purveyor of independent and underground music. (Image: Destination NSW)
Step in to peruse Repressed Records’ new and second-hand collection of independent and lesser-known Australian vinyl, as well as high-quality Japanese pressings. Music zines, magazines and tapes are also stocked.
Discover lesser-known vinyl treasures at Repressed Records. (Image: Destination NSW)
Address: 413 King St, Newtown NSW
5. TITLE store
Among the boutique shops, bars and cafes of Crown Street, you will find this informal and well-curated bookstore that, along with poster art and eclectic group games, has a carefully picked selection of contemporary and vintage records.
Hunt down records at TITLE in Surry Hills.
TITLE also has a shop at Barangaroo.
TITLE Barangaroo has all the classics.
Address: 501 Crown St, Surry Hills NSW and Barangaroo Ave, Barangaroo NSW
6. Abicus Records
This Newcastle local has an assembled stock of unique jewellery, Birkenstocks and odds and ends like tarot cards and art journals. But obsessive analogue fans will be drawn in particular to the dedicated area of the shop with limited editions, new releases and classic vinyl.
Get lost in Abicus Records.
Address: 103 Darby St, Cooks Hill NSW
Tasmania
7. Suffragette Records
Suffragette Records is a passionate ode to the power and talent of female musicians in a tiny, well-loved space in southern Hobart. Open since 2022, the owners work hard to counter the male-dominated industry of music with their collection of singles and albums created by women.
Suffragette celebrates music by women with an all-female catalogue.
Address: 52 Sandy Bay Rd, Battery Point Tas
8. Tommy Gun
New records, second-hand and bargain low-cost vinyl collections, band t-shirts, turntable parts and everything in between. Whatever your vintage music needs, Tommy Gun in the Tassie capital has it all.
Tommy Gun has all your vintage music needs covered.
Address: 127 Elizabeth St, Hobart, Tas
Western Australia
9. Astral Weeks Listening Bar
The concept of a listening bar (or HiFi bar) may have started in Japan, but the last few years have seen the unique nightlife design spread everywhere from Hong Kong to New York – and now, Australia.
In Perth’s Chinatown, Astral Weeks provides this all-analogue listening bar, where customers sit and listen quietly to the staff-selected record, sipping high-class wines and cocktails as the music plays in a shared cultural experience.
Address: Shop 12/60/66 Roe St, Northbridge WA
10. The Record Finder
A Western Australian cultural centre that has been selling and buying records across the world since the ‘60s. Today, there are thousands and thousands to choose from in The Record Finder’s two-storey collection. Visit to browse their rare, original pressings, used and new records, or call to request specific items.
Browse The Record Finder’s catalogue.
Address: 43 High St, Fremantle WA
Queensland
11. Wax Espresso Record Store and Cafe
Why rush an enjoyable afternoon poring over records when you can kick back with a coffee at the same time? As well as caffeine and pastries, the Sunshine Coast’s Wax Espresso Record Store and Cafe is particularly known for its electric selection: techno, house and ambient vinyl in particular.
Hit up Wax Espresso Record Store and Cafe for pastries and vinyl.
Address: 35 Duporth Ave, Maroochydore Qld
12. The Record Exchange
Claimed to be the largest record store in Australia, The Record Exchange is hidden away in a laneway in the Brisbane city centre. Its crowded collection of second-hand vinyl is augmented with CDs, posters, go and even the limited nineties retro-esque VHS collection of concerts.
Address: 1/65 Adelaide St, Brisbane Qld
13. Ruby My Dear
A vinyl listening bar meets jazz cafe meets live music performance space – this time north of Brisbane. The izakaya-style cuisine at Ruby My Dear highlights the Japanese origin of listening bars, with pork katsu, pickled mackerel with wasabi and soy and sake negronis.
Sit down for live music at Ruby My Dear.
Address: 12 Longland St, Newstead Qld
Northern Territory
14. Air Raid Records
Looking for tracks up in the Top End? The Darwin-based neighbourhood store of Air Raid Records is not known just for its second-hand vinyl.
Air Raid Records is Darwin’s only dedicated second-hand record store.
It also hosts kid-friendly live local DJ sessions and the chance for the public to practice their wax-spinning skills.
Spin the record for freebies.
Address: Air Raid Arcade, 48/12 Charlton Ct, Woolner NT
South Australia
15. Clarity Records
With special deals for Adelaide artists who want to stock their releases, as a result, Clarity has an enormous variety of local musicians in their shop. Their well-organised collection in their bright central city store is complemented by tote bags featuring bands, and books written by (and about) musicians.
Clarity has an enormous variety of local musicians.
Address: 60 Pulteney St, Adelaide SA
16. Streetlight Adelaide
Come for the records, stay for… well, the records. But among the hoard of culture at Streetlight, there are plenty of other treasures for you to discover. With arthouse films, books of poetry and musician memoirs, you might find it hard to leave this independently-owned store.
You’ll find it hard to leave Streetlight Adelaide.
Address: Shop 2/15 Vaughan Place, Adelaide SA
