London – A place where records refuse to become extinct! With MP3 players, iPhones, iPods and Apple Macs, the damaging effects the arrival of CDs had on vinyl records has moved up to an even higher gear.

Although in spite of modern technology practically ‘killing off’ traditional vinyl records, one of the most pleasurable features of London is coming across a quirky and unpretentious music shop hidden down some unassuming alleyway!

Take a look at three of the best record shops in London boasting record collections to immense that you’ll get dizzy sifting through.

Honest Jon’s, Portobello Road, Ladbroke Grove

What has been dubbed as being ‘London’s most famous record shop’, Honest Jon’s records date back to the early 1970s and specialises in jazz, soul, reggae and funk.

This highly esteemed vinyl store offers a degree of ‘officialdom’, as all records are nicely catalogued!

Flashback Records, Essex Road, Islington

This two-tiered record shop is slightly resonant of Hugh Grant’s bookshop in the blockbuster film Notting Hill, namely modesty and humbleness is at its core.

Selling box after box of second hand singles and LPs, the only component of organisation in Flashback Records is the fact that all vinyl’s are catalogued into their musical genre. 

Rough Trade East, Brick Lane

Known as the ‘big boy’ of all the independent record shops in London, Rough Trade East is the place to be if you’re a unfaltering fan of vinyl and are reluctant to embrace the modern forms of music technology.

With literally thousands of records to dig through, we can hardly blame vinyl punters to have to take a break and have a drink and bite to eat in this warehouse-conversion style record shop – Although it doesn’t take a genius to guess what the topic of conversation will be in this coffee shop!