Look maybe they have a good online store but they are no longer a bricks and mortar. Storefront…read moreclosed 2 years ago.

I was impressed by the low prices and selection, but didn't buy anything since I was visiting and…read moredidn't want to overstuff my suitcase.

When I was in Edinburgh last month, I had to visit some local record shops and Vinyl Villains was…read morethe best one for used vinyl IMHO. You walk in and are surrounded by records. The better stuff is hung from the ceiling so I naturally had to ask the gentlemen to grab a few of them so I could look at them, which I ended up buying. (As soon as I left Edinburgh, I regretted not buying something!) The prices were pretty good as well, which is always a huge plus. But the gentlemen was nice and was fast with everything. I would definitely go back to Vinyl Villains if I'm in the area again!

Incredible selection. Great staff. Found an early Siouxsie & The Banshees record. Layout and…read moreambience was very cool

This location is not available. Go to the 42 Shandwick Place location which I visited and fell in…read morelove! Awesome store with a pretty good collection of items. The staff were friendly and helpful if you have a question. Film and books are downstairs. CD's are down in and to the right, while the l.p's line the middle to the back and to the left. New releases and specials are in the front of the store. Music lovers, you will not be disappointed! The special prices of some items are like icing on a cake!

Once a thriving independent with a string of shops across the country, Fopp is now a small chain of…read moreeight shops bankrolled by HMV. Whilst this branch is a lot smaller and smarter than the original Edinburgh branch on Cockburn Street, it still stocks a cracking selection of CDs, DVDs, box-sets, graphic novels, books and tee-shirts. There's no listening booths unfortunately, but a lot of the new releases come with written descriptions and the staff are usually willing to play certain album if you ask nicely. As for the stock, we're talking fantastic compilations, back catalogues, re-issues and new releases for bargain basement prices. With great Blondie, Human League, Cocteau Twins, Nick Cave, Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald and Bob Dylan remasters for £3 each, I defy any fanatical music or film fan to come out with less than half a dozen goodies!

Dubstep Drum 'n' bass…read moreJungle Grime Techno Electro IDM House Funk & Soul One of Edinburgh's longest running record shops, Underground Solu'shn specialises in all forms of dance music. A firm favourite with local and visiting deejays, they stock a big selection of white labels, twelve inches and compilations imported from the U.S and Europe and have a number of listening posts. Handily, they also sell and rent turntables, mixers, speakers and headphones and stock deejay essentials like spare needles, cartridges and cool tee-shirts. To paraphrase an old floor filler: Everybody dance now!

My boyfriend says when he goes deaf from DJing then he'll walk in here and in a loud voice (because…read morehe can't hear himself) ask for everything this fine establishment has to offer that's round about the same speed. When you buy stuff from Hard to Find Records, other than the delivery option, this is the place in Edinburgh where you can go pick your purchase up from. Known for more of a club style music like dance, hip hop or dubstep, rather than your more conventional record shop that had 34 identical Roy Orbison 12"s.

Vox even ordered a box set I wanted Saved my buying from…read moreeBay We should all try this place and keep a independent record store in Edinburgh Great wee joint and can't wait to get my new deck so I can start buying more from them

The Box part of the name is pretty appropriate for this wee record shop, as it's not the biggest of…read moreplaces. It does a lot with it's small space though, with a hell of a lot of stock to spend some time browsing through. If you're on a budget go to the back of the shop, where there is a bargain basement section. When I was there they had a special 50p for everything deal, but normally I think prices are pretty decent. I didn't have a big look through here, but this looked like the usual shelf-fillers you get in most second hand stores - the greatest hits of Bread in about half dozen different front covers, and lots of 70's and 80's stuff. The key thing here is that everything is all fairly priced, so it's cheap enough to take a punt on. The main space is set up for new records, and quality second hand stuff. I couldn't see a huge new releases section (I couldn't see a section for stuff out that week, for example), but there was good selection of newer releases, and a solid local offering. There were boxes upon boxes in this area, and i don't know what the deal is with opening up the ones at the bottom - a wee bit more space may actually be a help if it means they can get more stock up and visible. Finally, a sale selection had some genuine bargains - in fact, the prices were pretty fair throughout the whole shop. Special shout to the guy behind the till, who was really friendly. All told, this is a great wee record store, and one that would definitely reward some serious browsing time.

This shop just has to be one my best finds in Edinburgh! Never had I come over an Oxfam shop…read morededicated to music! Down in the Edinburgh area of Stock bridge, this isn't just a typical charity shop, it is more like a professional independent record store! The staff are generally volunteers, which is great as many of them are music enthusiasts and have a pillar of knowledge about all genres of music! My first find in the store was Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks album, CD format, for a cool £5! Second hand Cd's are in abundance, many of them include singer songwriters and indie classics. Indeed, the beauty about this store is that all lot of their stock are from people who have collected a certain genre of music over decades! So the chance to find some unique records in this store is very possible indeed! Furthermore, this shop also stores vinyl (still in my opinion the best format for sound quality!), from cheaper vinyls to more expensive, collectable records. Also, the shop is open late on a Thursday for any after work trips for music fans! If you're a record collector or music lover, then a trip down to this Oxfam music shop in Stockbridge is a must! And buying records from this shop helps towards a brilliant charity!

I always become highly enthusiastic when I see that someone else was just as blown away by a place…read moreas I was. I mean, I knew about this shop before I'd even stepped foot in Edinburgh. And, sadly, it took me quite a long time to get myself to Stockbridge to check it out. But whoa. Whoa. If you don't have either a) an addictive personality or b) a record player, then this shop might not be for you. I happen to possess both a) and b). You see, I moved into a house that came equipped with hundreds of records and I managed to borrow a friend's record player, so now I get over-excited at the prospect of buying new records. The Oxfam Music Shop is THE place to go. I mean, they have their 'valuable' section, which I steer clear of because the prices are in the double digits, but I found the Valley Girls soundtrack for 4 pounds and other records for even cheaper. There's a mistaken assumption that because records are so old and not in high demand that they're cheaper than CDs. This is not true. At all. But the Oxfam Music Shop isn't extortionate at all. So get on it, folks. Be addicted. Very little beats listening to a record instead of music on your iTunes.

A second hand CD/DVD store which is great for browsing and finding good quality discs at good…read moreprices. It has a large selection and you could be suprised of what might crop up if you just ask the quite knowledgeable staff. Apart from mainstream hits there's also a grand choice of good oldies and lesser known bands to choose from. Don't be deterred by its dark interior and the owner's abrupt manner. It may not be a flashy music chain store, but it's a good place to hunt for a bargain and discover new music.

Hogs Head music hails from a dying breed of music stores, probably because it has much more…read morepersonality than the high street. Dark, dingy and inspiring, it's the kind of place that begs you to dig in and have a look around. With an eclectic, decently priced selection of second hand music and DVDs, the stock is in very good condition considering how little you pay for it. The owner was very helpful when I was in, and seemed genuinely interested in your custom. It had a great selection of music DVDs and I was especially impressed with how much punk music they had. Including what I am assuming is a rare live Bouncing Souls DVD, which I might go back for since I regret leaving it. All I can say about Hogs Head is I wish there were more independent stores like it. Great quality second hand CD's, rarities and low prices, you can't go wrong in here!

Record Shak is amazing. I'm convinced almost every record produced under the sun has wound up in…read moreone of their boxes - you'll be hard pushed to find better selection elsewhere. From pschycadelic music to old folk and blues, I lost count of the amount of appealing albums I found when I had a root around. They have a number of second hand CD's, but by far and away their biggest strength is their record collection. They had some rare finds in here that I'm gathering were never sold in shops. One notable example was a Dead Kennedy's demo that looks like a promo copy since I've never seen it before. Because of the good condition of the records and their rarity, they are quite costly. Some were as much as £18 which, unforuntately, takes them out my price range for the moment. But it implies they are of value, and certainly the choice and condition of the records in the Shak speaks for itself. It may be too expensive for me at the moment, but I will still sing Record Shak's praises. There aren't many record stores like this left intact, so we must celebrate what we have left! And with the outstanding albums available in store, it's an asset to Edinburgh's music scene.

Record Shak brings back great memories of buying vinyl when I was a teenager in the 90's ( I never…read moregot into CD's) and now that I live in the neighbourhood, it's a great shop to pop into every now and then. This shop has always had stuff I've wanted and there's music I probably wouldnt have gone for until I was recommended it by the dude behind the counter. The fact that it's outlasted Our Price, Virgin, Woolies and soon to be HMV says it all for local record shops and for this one in particular. It also has a community notice board for people looking for musicians, flats to let and lessons etc.

Hands down, Elvis Shakespeare was one of the best (if not, the best) record stores I went to in…read moreScotland. If we're talking second hand, I think it would rank number one. Elvis Shakespeare is extremely well-organized, meaning you can cut to the chase pretty quickly if there are certain genres you're looking for. I know some people are really into crate digging, but I'm not usually one of those. I super appreciated that roll out cabinets used to store all the LPs and 7"s here. In the back of the store was my sweet spot, the 80s indie/alternative section. Being in Scotland, I was hoping to find some artists that I can't normally find in any US stores, and that I did. I was able to pick-up both a Jesse Garon and Motorcycle Boy 12"s. When I got to the counter to pay, I also saw a long-coveted copy of Thee Headcoatees' Have Love Will Travel. I quickly scooped that up, but unfortunately realized (back in the States) that the wrong record was inside! This was a major letdown, but a bit understandable in the way the records are stored. Like many UK stores, Elvis Shakespeare does not keep the actual vinyl in the sleeves out on the floor. So while this was behind the counter, the record was probably taken from wherever those are stored. The record in place of the correct one was from Thee Headcoats, so likely a matter of quickly mis-reading the labels when it was being placed in the sleeve. I wish I had caught this at the time, because now I have the sleeve for a record I really want, without the record. Still, despite that issue, I highly recommend any record collector stop by Elvis Shakespeare while in Edinburgh. Just make sure you do pay close attention to the vinyl that ends up in your purchases.

It was the boxes of records we spotted at the door that prompted my brother and I to cross the road…read moreand have a look in this brilliant literature and music emporium. It was also pretty unusual for us to be walking down Leith Walk in the first place, with it not really being in our normal neck of the woods, but the combination of needing to walk off a huge lunch, plus general curiosity about what Leith Walk retail was up to these days, made us go for the stroll rather than the lazy bus option. Elvis Shakespeare is my favourite kind of specialist dealer for two reasons. The first being, it sells books. I've got a thing about picking up random, older editions of books that are unusual and hard to find, because I love the different designs you can find on the covers, and it's just a bit more interesting than buying a book brand new. The second reason I admire this shop is for its carefully collated A-Z organisation. The records are catalogued alphabetically, with the CDs and books also organised efficiently by category. I realise that there's a certain charm to wandering into other types of dealers and unearthing a gem of an item when everything's just piled up in little mishmash heaps, but I like my shopping somewhere in-between, still with plenty of character, but with some sort of formula to it. It's clear that the bloke that owns this shop has reams of musical knowledge, and is passionate about telling people about it, which is just ideal, specialism plus someone that actually cares about what they're selling can't be beaten. My brother left with a rare Ska CD, and I found the first book I ever reviewed and had since lost, so just had to buy a copy. An excellent afternoon's work.