This is one of the most iconic and legendary music shops in the UK if not the world. They've been…read morearound since the late 70s and I just love stopping by when I'm back in Manchester. Even if I'm just browsing and not expecting to buy something, I usually do. Folks here know their stuff. Their knowledge of music goes beyond compare. And it's no wonder, this is Manchester after all. It's just so cool to go in a chat with like-minded folks about music. They have so much available in CD form as well as vinyl. It's easy to get lost in the beauty of it all. So whether you're looking for punk, funk, or disco, they'll hook you up. I wish I could give them ten stars.

Sizzling Soul Fabulous Funk…read moreBrilliant Broken Beats Awesome Abstract Hip Hop Fantastic Free Jazz Dazzling Dubstep Sweeeeeet Lovers Rock Beautifully crooned Country Amazing Americana Classic Chicago House Tantalising Techno Pogo-ing Punk-Funk Perfect Pop Gorgeous Psyche-Folk Blistering Garage & lots of cool Rock & Roll Don't mean to get all High Fidelity on y'all but Piccadilly Records is the Northern equivalent of Rough Trade East. They have aisles of incredible vinyl on 7", 12" and long-players, tons of new and re-issued CDs and listening decks where you can check them all out. Even better, most of the staff are deejays so can give you the lowdown on the tracks that are the most fly. They also host in-store gigs from emerging and established artists. What more could you want?

Another place of pilgrimage. IYKYK. Ah, what an honor it is to be able to see Pete (owner) & chat…read morewith him during trips to Madchester. It's a used shop that sells vinyl, cassettes, etc. It's like stepping into a library of well-maintained musical archives. I never leave empty-handed and love being able to purchase something pressed in the UK rather than the U.S. It's kind of important when it comes to the music of some of my favorite artists of the area (The Stone Roses, Oasis, and so on). A legendary piece of music history that's simply a must-visit establishment. Prices are super fair.

Great used records, and a superb collection of CDs, cassettes, and DVDs…read more Not your typical trendy record store, so you won't find any newer music here. A true gem for true music enthusiasts. And what a marvelous jazz and country collection btw. Extra points by chatting with the legendary Peter Howard, AKA Mr. Sifter. It was a dream come true to visit this place!

Whilst Vinyl Exchange and Piccadilly Records stock an incredible range of music from americana,…read morepsyche-folk and rock to blues, soul and punk-funk, Vinyl Revival is more of a specialist store that deals with everything related to Manchester's musical history. We're talking rare and hard to find posters from The Hacienda and Factory Records, limited edition 12"s and promo pressings of early Stone Roses, Smiths and New Order and every album by A Certain Ratio, Durutti Column, Buzzcocks and Magazine. If you're after something in particular - like Barry Adamson's* brilliant imaginary soundtrack album Moss Side Story - just ask and there's a chance they might have one or know someone that can get you one. It's that kind of store! * Who's Barry Adamson? The charismatic bass player in seminal post-punk band Magazine, early member of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds and now a full time solo artist and soundtrack composer of course!

A smaller shop but always has choice vinyl and CDs. A large selection of Manchester artists and a…read morelot of really cool artwork on the walls. All of the employees I've encountered are too guys who are there to make sure you find what you're looking for.

I've lost count of the amount of time and money I've spent in Vinyl Exchange over the years…read more Suffice to say, it would probably mount to quite a lot! Housed in the heart of the Northern Quarter, it's a two storey building solely devoted to secondhand music from indie, power pop, psyche-rock and folk to electro, hip hop, rap, disco, funk, soul and nu wave. Upstairs is devoted to racks of nearly new, secondhand and promo CDs and DVDs whilst the basement is packed with all kinds of vinyl from rare 7" and 12" to albums and box-sets. Prices are reasonable, the staff are friendly and passionate about music and you can trade and sell records and CDs. It was here I managed to track down copies of Mo' Wax Headz 1 and 2, Sonic Youth 'Beat On The Brat' 12" and Miles Davis's seminal Bitches Brew album one lucky afternoon!

If it has ever been on a vinyl or some form of plastic that is read on a gramophone etc vinyl…read moreexchange will have it. They stock a wide variety of classics from every corner of music, downstairs they have one of the most intense dub step and DJ sets around. If you've got any old vinyl's either considering there in good nick the guys will weigh up a trade in for cash or other vinyls. Home to all things old skool in music and those few who pursue this passion.

One of the best online music shops is Manchester based Boomkat Ltd…read more Run by a group of passionate music promoters and deejays, it stocks a wide variety of incredible underground and eclectic music from a wealth of international labels. We're talking beautiful electro, IDM, broken beats, grime, ragga, dancehall, dub, deep house, disco-not-disco, no wave, post-punk, psyche-folk, bluegrass, weird country, gospel, drone, classical, musique concrete and everything inbetween! If you''re the kind of music fan that spends your free time surfing and crate-digging for Kraftwerk or Steve Reich rarities, chances are you already order lots of stuff from here. If you're not familiar with them, sign up for their weekly newsletter giving you details of their new releases. Each one comes with a link so you can hear samples of tracks and they sell vinyl, CDs, tapes, MP3s and Flax recordings. They also sell soundtracks so I'm sure there'd be something to please my favourite Stuart Copeland fan in Baltimore :)

I am indebted to Kingbee…read more A few years ago, my brother asked me to deejay at a 30th birthday party for him and his mates. When he casually mentioned it was in 48 hours time and he didn't want me to play the 70s records I already had - Patti Smith, Television, New York no wave, etc - I began to panic. Since I was in Chorlton at the time, I went into Kingbee on the off chance they' might have a couple of records I could get. When I saw they had racks of 70s disco, pop and rock, I could have kissed the owner. Instead, I spent the next hour digging through the racks and checking out different tracks on their turntable. If it had been a Friday or Saturday, I would have had a long line of grumpy record collectors behind me, impatiently waiting to play their chosen records. As it was, I had the turntable to myself and left the shop with two bags stuffed with goodies. Amazingly, the whole lot only came to £30 and the guy offered to buy back any records I didn't want a few days later. What did I get? A couple of mint T-Rex, David Bowie and Roxy Music albums, compilations featuring Abba, The Bee Gees, Hot Chocolate and Sister Sledge and lots of excellent Blondie, Soft Cell, Sylvester, The Specials and Curtis Mayfield 7" and 12"s. Suffice to say, my brothers and his mates danced all night. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqJk0q4QvZk&feature=related

Kingbee is the only shop in Chorlton dedicated to records (although you can also find quirky retro…read morerecords in Wowie Zowie! on Manchester Road and an assortment of old vinyl in the plethora of charity shops on the Wilbraham Road). As endearing as the vintage yellow Kingbee sign is, I don't own a record player and have been known to buy things because they look pretty, so I tend to stay away from this record shop as it can be quite pricey. I looked at a couple of the Cure's 7 inch singles but at £30 a pop they would make expensive pictures for my wall. If I had the money I'd go wild in this shop. £750 for a signed Led Zep tour poster from 1980? Bargain! It's not just vintage records that Kingbee sell. You can pick up a 7inch limited edition of The Ting Tings' 'That's Not My Name' for £35. All in all, a great place for collectors and serious vinyl fans, but a bit pricey for the rest of us. However, if you've got boxes of old vinyl in your attic, Kingbee may be able to take them off your hands.

Clampdown record is a well-organized shop with a solid selection of harder to find titles. As I…read morebrowsed through their indie and Manchester sections, I saw a lot of titles that are well sought after. Pricing was fair and the clerk (owner?) behind the counter let my partner and I browse without any of the bother you sometimes get in record shops. I would mark this as a must visit when visiting Manchester and hunting for vinyl.

Great record store right in the heart of Manchester city centre. Small store, but lots of vinyl to…read morechose from & reasonably priced. If you love Japanese or audophile pressings, this is a store you will love. I also found a section dedicated to bands from Manchester like Oasis, Stone Roses, Happy Mondays & New Order ect which is cool to see from a store based in the city centre. If you are after signed LP's you are in look as Clampdown Records features a nice little section dedicated to this type of collectible. Overall this is a great little store that I have visited every week I pop into Manchester & have bought quite a bit of stuff from here. The owner is friendly & very knowledgable about his stuff. I was asking one time I visited about Japanese vinyl as I had heard their pressings are superior when compared to American or UK pressings & pretty much gave me the full rundown of which periods this is true of + things to look out for. Great store with a very honest, helpful owner.

This is a great independant record store, just like how I remember music shops to be from my youth…read more The staff are knowledgeable and friendly, if they dont have what your looking for they can usually order it for you. They actually sell vinyl! Something you dont see very much of these days! A lot of promos and rarieties to choose from which is great if your looking for something unique for a gift for someone. All music genres are catered from too - you'll find everything fron dylan to spice girls! Music magazines and memorabilia is also available. Great little shop.

This is a decent record store, but it falls in the category of solid rather than spectacular. The…read morepositives are that the staff are incredibly knowledgable and everything in there is in brilliant condition, as they have this huge record cleaner in the back, which you can use on your own records for a quid if you buy something crackle-heavy from elsewhere. Prices are also fair, though for some classics they do overcharge. For example they wanted £35 once for a piper at the gates of dawn Floyd fame label pressing, which is worth £15 maximum, but on balance pricing is good. There is also a good range of new vinyl, both new issues and reissues of old material, all at reasonable prices. The negatives however are that the shop is frustratingly small. There are only about 7 boxes of LP's out, but annoyingly, behind the counter there are tonnes of boxes, of cleaned, ready to buy vinyl which you can't browse through. Why he doesn't open the shop up is beyond me, if he did this would immediately become a 4 star shop. The other weakness is linked to this, as the variety of stock is limited. You're looking mainly at rock/pop/soul. The odd gem does come up, and once he had loads of funk stuff, but in the main its limited. Again if he opened the store up and let you sift through the stuff in the back this problem would be rectified. Ultimately its worth a visit if you're local, but don't travel down specifically for it. For example, this store wouldn't last 10 minutes in Manchester because the competition has more and a wider variety of stock. They really need to open it up, it's so frustrating looking at all that vinyl which you can't browse, which is the main issue with this store.