Electronic music has always been at the very heart of Barcelona and with Sonar Festival and what has now become known as OFF Week becoming one of the most important weeks in house and techno this is reflected in the great selection of record stores it possesses. We take a look at the stores that rank amongst some of the best in the world.
Libertine Records
The pre-cursor to the recently opened Berlin store that featured in our Berlin record stores guide way back when. Owners Yoshi and Sbri are really on to something unique with the many facets of Libertine – a record store, record label, party series, more or less a way of life. With all that comes an immense knowledge of music especially electronic dancefloor focused bomb music that is easily reflected in the store offerings.
Facebook | Discogs | Calle Joan Blanques 22, Barcelona
Tvinyl
Resident artist from ID Sergio AKA OZ explains just how important Tvinyl is to his sound, “For me it is easy to say that Tvinyl is by far the best record store in town not only because of their network and distribution that reflects in the thickest record selection of Barcelona, but also for the structure, commodity, and prices of the store itself. Personally, a must before any important gig, highly recommended.”
Facebook | Website | Calle Valldonzella 25, Barcelona
Discos Paradiso
Vinyl culture and the artists that keep this art form alive are very close to the hearts of the Loud-Contact family as you can clearly see by the insane bookings that populate every one of their events. Resident artist Lumière gave us her top pick of where to get your hands on some of the city’s best records, “In Barcelona, we have a lot of very good stores, but Discos Paradiso has it all! Second hands, new arrivals, independent labels! is the best and it is also a mythical record store in Barcelona.”
Facebook | Website | C/Ferlandina 39, Barcelona
Subwax
Something of an institution in Barcelona, Subwax is not just a record store it is a distribution platform, booking agency and of course one of the finest purveyors of wax in Europe. Its expertly curated crates offer some of the best DJ’s in the world its wares and will find said DJ’s spinning instore from time to time too. Favoured by the resident’s artists of checkpoint Subwax should never be missed when you are in town.
Facebook | Website | Discogs | Carrer de la Riera Baixa 10, Barcelona
Lostracks Records
One of the finest second-hand stores in Barcelona, David Lost’s Lostracks store offers forgotten gems of most dancefloor orientated genres but it’s the caliber of these finds which keeps drawing the top jocks from the city and further afield back to its many crates. Just make sure you give yourself plenty of time to go through them all and you will certainly unearth a few musical nuggets. If you don’t have time to spare in the city why not trawl the store’s Discogs page first and pick up your gems when you are in town.
Facebook | Website | Discogs | Vic 21 loc.1, Barcelona
Rhythm Control
Offering both new and used records, Rhythm Control is very well known in Barcelona not just for its strength of electronic music selections but also for the warm customer service they offer each visitor. If you know what you are looking for let the staff know and they will be more than happy to give you a few pointers.
Facebook | Ronda Sant Pau 17-19 Galeries Olimpia Local 28, Barcelona
NUT Records
Another store that is a big hit with the more discerning house and techno collector. Although the store is compact it manages to pack in a great collection of new and used records and again the quality of the collection is impressive for such a relatively small store.
Facebook | Discogs | Carrer Milans, 3, Barcelona
Vinilarium
Christian Arcila of thood explains, “I’ve been digging lately in Vinilarium and it’s been my favorite one in the last few months. Fari (the owner) has lots of second-handed records you can’t find in others stores, there are some uncategorized stuff and hidden gems in those shelves from house, techno, electro, acid, and breaks. It’s always fun to dig there because you know you’re going to leave the store with records you’ve never heard of!”
Facebook | Discogs | Galerias Olimpia – Ronda Sant Pau 17 – Local 32, Barcelona
Barcelona City Records
Last but by no means least we have something of an exclusive here as this store will be officially opening on Tuesday, December 17th; however, this store has been decades in the making. This store is a combined effort from 2 of the cities top collectors Raul AKA DJ Zero and Oriol A. AKA Mach Boogaloo, resident at Marula Café who runs the Barcelona City Records online Discogs shop.
Having been buying records from local legend Raul AKA DJ Zero for some time, Sampol from top Barcelona crew checkpoint explains his reasons why Raul is his first stop, “More than half of the records that I buy are coming from Raul. The personalized service that he offers based on your tastes and what you are looking for that day is really special. Not to say that the other stores aren’t great but Raul’s selection and his music knowledge is perfect for me.”
Raul has been selling records from his expansive collection privately since 2010 via his WOIAJO Discogs profile, prior to that he used to run the electronica section at Wah Wah’s back store from 1998 to 2010. Now he has teamed up with Raul explains a bit about the physical store that is opening shortly, “I’d say the shop is pretty much groove cantered and covers the whole spectrum going from pure electronic dance music (techno, house, electro, IDM, d’n’b, breaks) to more organic grooves, with an impressive Latin and soul, funk, boogie selection without forgetting hip hop, jazz, and italo. I think the selection shows more or less our true colors both as DJ’s as record collectors. The stock is mainly second-hand but hopefully will expand on selected newest releases.”
Raul goes on to explain the very much in demand service he provides, “Since the 2010’s I’ve been record-dealing on my own – firstly at record-fairs (both Spain and France) and more recently at home. This has become a must-stop for quite a few of today’s popular DJ’s / diggers – Lutz, Del Garda, the Slow Life crew, Vera, DJ Koolt, tINi, Z@p, and many others. Mention also goes to young Uruguayan DJ Nico Etorena for helping me out with that and putting me in touch with a lot of these people (even if word got around quickly). Nevertheless, it was Javi (Sampol) who got me back in the game in first place inviting to the first Meeting Point events a few years ago… so kudos to him for that!!!”
Facebook | WOIAJO Discogs | Barcelona City Records Discogs | D’en Monec 13, Barcelona
