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ANTWERP'S
RECORD STORES |
| BACKTRACK |
| St-Kathelijnevest 42, near the Meir and Groenplaats.
(1) Very interesting store, selling mostly second hand stuff. The owner’s a big dEUS-fan as well, so from time to time he’s got real interesting dEUS- and dEUS related promo’s and rarities in his store. He knows his prices though- you’ll leave his store with a huge gap in your wallet… He’s got lots of other music for sale too of course, as well as some books, videos and didgeridoos… |
| BILBO |
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Oude Koornmarkt 58, near Groenplaats. (3) [website] A pretty commercial affair, with few ‘underground’ records, and a pretty underwhelming selection of Belgian cds. Still, they’re known for their very cheap prices, so interesting if you’re buying ‘mainstream’, widely available cds. Cheap, but where’s the love..? |
| BILBO BASEMENT |
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Oude Koornmarkt 12, near Groenplaats. Used to be "Metrophone records" in the Kammenstraat, but moved to the basement of the more mainstream BILBO record store. It's a strange but interesting store, with a wide selection of UK 'dance' music, as well as other "alternative" music genres, as Hip Hop, Reggea, Indie, etc... Hardly any singles though, and overall, they're slightly more expensive than Bilbo or Fat Kat. Best thing the Bilbo Basement has going for, is it's one of the stores with most (new) vinyl stuff for sale. |
| BRABO RECORDS |
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Kaasrui 54, near de ‘Grote Markt’. (5) [website] Nice store, with friendly people behind the counter and most of the dreadful commercial releases already filtered out. One of the only stores where you can buy most of Belgium’s interesting releases, including most singles. A modest selection of second hand cds, and pretty cheap pricing make this the best choice for the not obvious records (but not too obscure either) |
| CHELSEA |
| Kloosterstraat 10, near the Tunnelplaats, and the Plantin kaai.
(7) Irritatingly tiny second hand cd/vinyl store, they sell almost all genres, but the records are stuck away in tiny carton boxes, all pressed together on a ridiculous small area. Not very expensive, but I’ve never come across a really great bargain there yet. |
| FAT KAT |
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Lange Koepoortstraat 51, near Melkmarkt and Grote markt. (8) Run by two very friendly people, Fat Kat offers a small selection of most un-commercial genres. They’re not extremely expensive nor cheap, but they have a reasonable selection of second hand records, where you can come across great bargains if you’re lucky. If you’re thinking of ordering a cd, this is the best place to do so; they hardly charge extra costs and are fairly quick. |
| FNAC |
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Groenplaats 31. (9) [website] Large cd/book/video/computer store in Antwerp, but predictably, mostly mainstream cds. Not too cheap, not too expensive. |
| FREE RECORD SHOP |
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Wapper 7, near Meir. (10) Expensive mainstream cd-store. From all of the Free Record Shops in Belgium, this is probably even one of the smallest. |
| ILÉ AFRIK |
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The number one choice for all sorts of foreign and etnic music. Albums from Africa, South-America and the more Eastern regions is what you'll find in here, and (hardly) anything else. |
| INKOOP EN VERKOOP |
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Nationalestraat 154, near the museums for fine and contemporary art.
(12) Pretty sad second hand store, with a small selection of cds, and some old vinyls, videos and videogames too. Prices are fair but they’re selling mostly very mainstream or very old records. |
| INSIDE RECORDS - www |
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St-Jacobsmarkt 76, near Meir and Rooseveltplaats, across the USA Import.
(23) Limited second hand store, mostly vinyl LPs from the sixties until the early 90ties. Mostly commercial stuff. |
| RECORD COLLECTOR |
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Lange Koepoortstraat 70, near Melkmarkt and Grote Markt. (14) Specialised in óóóóóóld records, they sell cds and vinyl ranging from Buddy Holly to Elvis Presley. Their collection of Flemish schlager cds is impressive too- if you’re looking for a long lost single by Jo Valley from the eighties, look no further! They’ve got a small selection of more contemporary albums and singles as well, but they’re not sorted at all, where Kraftwerk can be found next to Bryan Adams. Good luck if you’re gonna see for their selection! |
| REPLAY |
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Lange Koepoortstraat 78, near Melkmarkt and Grote Markt. (15) Most interesting second hand store in town, their selection is wide and all at decent prices. Service is friendly again (I believe the owner is in Antwerp country/rockabilly band The Seatsniffers BTW), and they also have DVDs, videos, and videogames for sale. Unfortunately, since a few years they’ve stopped selling singles though. |
| FREAKS END FUTURE |
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Pieter Van Hobokenstraat 12 [website] Specialises for 99% in underground music - pretty much all genres though. A tiny store with reasonable prices, and if you're interested in exploring sounds you've never ever heard of before, a véry interesting store to visit. |
| TUNE-UP |
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Korte Nieuwstraat 9, near Melkmarkt, Groenplaats, Meir. (17) Small but cosy second hand vinyl store, selling most genres but electronic music. The owner’s a friend of Stef Kamil Carlens, and Mauro Pawlowski and Rudy Trouvé pop in from time to time there too. Therefore, he (occasionally) has got really cool/limited edition records from the guys themselves in his store… |
| USA IMPORT |
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St-Jacobsmarkt 75, near the Meir and Rooseveltplaats. (18) [website] Store run by Sebastian Kalonji and Kelvin Smith of Cinérex, they sell nothing but dance/techno/electronical music. Lots of house and techno, the best store in Antwerp for the latest (mostly commercial) releases. |
| VINYL |
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Aalmoezenierstraat, near the Nationalestraat. (19) [website] As it’s name suggests, mostly vinyls are sold here. Lots and lots of old (and second hand) records, with a very ‘nostalgic’ atmosphere. The store’s a bit on the ‘messy’ side though, but service is friendly and their records are rarely overpriced. |
| WALLY'S GROOVEWORLD |
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Lange Nieuwstraat 126, near Meir and Rooseveltplaats. (21) [website] Similar to USA Import, you’ll only find electronic music in here, pretty much all on vinyl. The selection is wider than USA Import, with the less commercial artists for sale Overall, prices are reasonable, but they know a rare record when they see one... |
| WORLD OF MUSIC |
Chaotic bargain cd store, with inconvenient racks, and poorly divided genres. Cheap they occasionally are, but they hardly have any interesting cds. |
| here's a pretty unclear and unpractical visualisation of all this... |
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| These are only the stores I know of in Antwerp. Are there any other interesting ones? Are you from another (Belgian) town, and want the rest of the world to know of your favourite record stores in your hometown? Mail me, or otherwise I won't be able to add them! |
