Edinburgh

[Mr H]

Discovered another good secondand shop in Edinburgh just down the road from my new office.

'Unknown Pleasures'

Rare Records and CDs
110 Canongate Edinburgh EH8 8DD
0131 652 3537
www.vinylnet.co.uk

Nearly spent my daughters pocket money (that she gave me for safe keeping) on a couple of old 12" dance imports.

[I Robot]

Goin to be in Edinburgh from thursday.know about underground solushn etc on cockburn street.Any advice on second hand shops would be most appreciated Ta

[Mr H]

Here's a bit of an update on the post I did on this in June 2005

Couple of things seem to have changed since I last wrote up some information about records shops in Edinburgh, one thing being that I don’t seem to have the time to get round them as often.

FOPP in Cockburn Street is no longer there. Down to one branch in Rose Street. Only been in a couple of times since it re-opened.

Still pop into HMV on Princes St and in the St James’ centre from time to time, occasionally Zavvi (?) also on Princes St.

Avalanche Records still at the top of Cockburn St, not been out to their other shop at 17 West Nicolson Street for ages.

BackBeat on 31 East CrossCauseway – turn left on Nicolson Street just after the Shelter charity shop. This shop is definitely worth a look. Only been once or twice but each time was mesmerized by the piles and piles records everywhere. If there’s something particular you’re looking for or want to know more about the range of stock you can ring on 0131 668 2666.

Then there’s the charity shops………a whole string of them opposite the South Side Community Centre (a converted church) on Nicolson Street. Oxfam is at 116 Nicolson Street and is surrounded by the British Heart Foundation, the Kidney Research Foundation, Barnados, Cancer Research and Shelter. .
Also a couple of places to rest your weary feet, the Bean Scene – next to the Apple Mac shop on Nicolson Street (drop in and get more accessories for your i-pod).

Have also been told that Oxfam have a shop down in Stockbridge that just has music related stock.

Two more 2nd hand shops heading out of town from Nicholson St, one is the Record Shak at 69 Clerk St, no idea what the other one is. Spotted it from the top deck of a bus as I was going home.

As per the original post on this thread there’s Unknown Pleasures on the Canongate

Rare Records and CDs
110 Canongate Edinburgh EH8 8DD
0131 652 3537
www.vinylnet.co.uk (http://www.vinylnet.co.uk/)

Seems to be related to King Bee in Manchester so I would imagine the stock is similar. Wouldn’t think you will find many bargains here though.

Vinyl Villains on Elm Row just down from the Playhouse at the top of Leith Walk. Now that we have moved offices I’ve not been here for a while either. Seems to specialise more in rock, hard rock and heavy metal.

Carry on down Leith Walk and you will eventually come to ElvisShakespeares another shop that is definitely worth a visit. More info here –

http://www.elvisshakespeare.com/index.php (http://www.elvisshakespeare.com/index.php)


Happy digging

[Mr Z]

Discovered unknown pleasures myself last week. They have a shop in St Andrews to so rotate stock quite often. underground solutions is great midweek but u can't move in it at wkends

[Mr H]

Two more 2nd hand shops heading out of town from Nicholson St, one is the Record Shak at 69 Clerk St, no idea what the other one is.

Been past it again and it is called 'Head Music'.

[mikuni]

Great stuff Mr. H, I'm heading to Edinburgh in July, only managed to find Avalanche last time around..

[Hot Jammie]

Just a wee addition to our friend Mr H and his excellent guide to diggin in Edinburgh.

Firstly dependin on what yer after, Edinburgh is pretty shit for diggin.Like many cities, 2nd hand vinyl vendors have folded big time.Its not what it used to be,n neither is nostalgia!.

No one wants to pay over the odds and everyone wants to find that 'bomb' for 20p in amongst the slim whitman and scottish folk music.Thats how it is.Unless you live here and can do regular sweeps of mainly charity shops (U won't find much stuff anywhere else) then you'll be toilin.Trust me, I've lived here long enough to know.

Out of the 'proper ' shops.The best bets are Elvis/shakespeare and Underground Solushuns 2nd hand stock.Found good shit in both these places and not at silly prices.Oxfam in Stockbridge can throw up the odd thing.The vibe I get here tho is that the folk that work here snaffle alot of the best shit.
Got to make a comment about Backbeat and it's not good.The guy who own's it obviously doesn't want to sell records!!.I have had at least three bizarre encounters witht the dude that owns it, all involving him standing at the end of a corridor of vinyl in boxes,sweating profusely and wittering on about his latest score on ebay and avoiding answering my enquiries about the sort of stuff I'm looking for.It's wierd fo sho.Always ended up walking out with fuck all and wanting to shout at the guy,not good.So be up for a challenge if you go here,it's impossible to rake through what is there because of the way it is stored.PLastic boxes all piled on top of each other with no space to move stuff about.Its frustrating as he has loads of records and can't possibly know what everything is,so there must be some good stuff in there somewhere.Doesn't look like I'll ever be finding it tho!!.

Avalache on West Nicholson Street is no more.

Record Shak can be interesting but no bargains here.

To conclude, yer best bet is the more obscure charidee shops in Dalry,Tollcross and to a lesser extent Morningside.Be prepared for a trudge and if yer really serious get the bus out of town to Musselborough and Dalkeith.

Good Luck.