Northside Records
Fitzroy's Gertrude Street is one of the best three blocks of vinyl in the southern hemisphere.
Melbourne is the Australian record city — denser, deeper and more genre-literate than anywhere else in the country. Start in Fitzroy. End wherever the last tram leaves you.
Why Northside
Black music, properly. Soul, funk, jazz, reggae, hip-hop — sourced internationally, priced fairly, played loud. The shop is a Melbourne institution and the door rarely stops swinging on a Saturday.
Originals, reissues and second-hand share rack space without the snobbery. If you want one shop to define what Australian record culture looks like in 2026, this is it.
What to dig for
Australian soul, jazz and dub reissues from Left Ear, Roundtable and BBE. Strong on Brazilian, Afro and Caribbean — the staff actually play this music, which shows.
After Northside
Walk Gertrude and Brunswick Streets — Round and Round, Plug Seven, and the rest. Then tram up to Sydney Road, Brunswick: Bonnie & Clyde, Lulu's, Sleepless. End in the CBD at Basement Discs or Strangeworld for indie and metal.
Also worth your afternoon
- · Round and Round Records
- · Plug Seven Records
- · Bonnie & Clyde Records
- · Basement Discs
Full map of every record store, listening bar and fair in Melbourne on the Vinyl Atlas map.