DIGGIN' MELBOURNE

VINYL LOVERS' TOUR GUIDE

Diggin’ Melbourne 2016 is here

We’re back! A new map listing 55 stores is available today, featuring new diggin’ spots in Fitzroy, Carlton North, Abbotsford, Prahran and Melbourne CBD. The Store Guide page has also been updated to include 60+ stores! Sadly we’ve lost a couple of stores during the last 12 months, but on the upside we’ve had even more new stores come onboard. New stores include Vinyl Revival in Fitzroy, Strangeworld Records in Fitzroy, Lofi (aka Houndstooth) in Fitzroy, Dutch Vinyl in Abbotsford, Stereophonic in Carlton North, Multisonics in Preston and Union Heights on Chapel St. Windsor.

PLUS – a couple of new stores are opening any day now… hopefully in time for Record Store Day. Our good friend Pat (formerly Augogo and Basement Discs) is launching Rocksteady Records on Lonsdale St in the City, promising to bring even more diversity City-side. Well-known DJ and vinyl purveyor Greg Molinaro is also opening a new store called HUB301 on Johnston St, Abbotsford (close to the new Dutch Vinyl store). Special Request Vinyl Record Bar (formerly Gutterhype) is another new listing; opening this month in Coburg. Don’t forget to check the online store guide for five extra stores not listed in the physical map/PDF.

If you’re reading this you already know this Saturday, April 16 is Record Store Day. Most of the participating stores have live performances, deejays and special offers happening on the day. Hit the Store Guide or download a PDF now for all the website and contact info for the stores. Additonal info about special events on the day is available at Record Store Day Australia

Unless you’re specifically after Limited Edition Record Store Day releases, remember it’s Record Store Day everyday when you have Diggin’ Melbourne as your guide. Happy hunting.

April 13, 2016

RECORD STORE DAY NEWS, SECOND HAND RECORDS, VINYL
Smells like a Record Store!

The countdown to Record Store Day has begun. The new Diggin’ Melbourne guides are being compiled and stores are frantically stocking the shelves. New maps should hit Melbourne streets around April 12/13/14. Don’t sleep.

March 30, 2016

RECORD STORE DAY NEWS
Final call for 2016 Diggin’ Melbourne listings

Record Store Day is almost upon us again (Saturday 16.04.16) – and that means new Diggin’ maps for Melbourne and Sydney! If you are a record store owner or manager, it’s time to ensure your current listing is up-to-date and your payment is made before March 18. If you are a new store and we have not contacted you already, please contact us asap if you wish to participate in the 2016 Diggin’ Melbourne Map. With limited spaces available in this year’s edition of the map payment by the due date is essential.

New maps will be available in the week leading up to Record Store Day, and our website will be updated soon to include all new store listings and news about what will be happening in your neighbourhood for Record Store Day. Lots of exciting new stores in the CBD and Collingwood/Fitzroy areas. Some new stores are already featured on the Store Guide pages. Watch this space for more updates.

March 15, 2016

VINYL
PBS106.7FM Record Fair

Melbourne’s community radio stations have always been a rich source of musical knowledge and inspiration, and increasingly they are becoming a source of records!

PBS 106.7FM has just announced their inaugural PBS Record Fair on Saturday November 21! 40 stalls jam packed with dealers selling the finest collectables as well as thousands of bargains. There’ll be something for everyone. LPs, 12”, 7”, CDs, Posters, T-Shirts, Music Memorabilia and more! It all goes down at Collingwood Town Hall. Profits go back to PBS, so do your thing to support community radio.

$7 early bird entry (9am) / $5 general entry (10am) pbsfm.org.au

A little bird told me there will be fresh heat from Northern Africa… funk, afrobeat, highlife and more. Plus there’ll be loads of those soul 45s you here on PBS, and so much more. Dig.

October 15, 2015

SECOND HAND RECORDS, VINYL
3MBS Record Fair

The bi-annual 3MBS Book & Music Fair is back this weekend (Sept 5 & 6). The 2015 fairs will be held at the home of 3MBS, at the Abbotsford Convent (for those not familiar with the Convent, it is next door to the Collingwood Children’s Farm). 3MBS has a massive amount of material for sale this year, much of which has been kindly donated by the 3MBS community and listeners. The fair also hosts independent and interstate record dealers, bringing an incredible amount of diversity and some flavours you might not expect to find at a 3MBS fair. And it’s not just records – expect a massive selection of Books, CDs and sheet music as well. See the poster for all the details or visit the Facebook page. Happy digging!

September 2, 2015

SECOND HAND RECORDS, VINYL
Black Gold by Martin

As mentioned in previous posts, Black Gold is a fanzine created by ‘Martin‘, documenting his epic search for “all the pre-1983 releases on No-future records” in Melbourne – with a copy of Diggin’ Melbourne acting as his “gloriously meticulous” tour guide. We were lucky enough to receive a couple of copies in the mail last week and shared them around at the map launch. We all had a laugh at Martin’s awesome zine – which he describes as “more of a stream of consciousness than a blow-by-blow review”.

After reading through Martin’s fanzine I wanted to share a little more information, and some tips about the Diggin’ Melbourne map. If you’re visiting Melbourne, please note: THE MAPS ARE NOT TO EXACT SCALE, and the scale of the store maps often varies to include surrounding landmarks. Case in point being Martin’s day in Williamstown (see below). Whilst we encourage using environmentally friendly modes of transport, there are some places you just have to drive to, and the Williamstown/Yarraville area is one of these. What appears like a few millimeters on a map can actually be a few kilometeres. Always refer to Greater Melbourne Map to get your bearings and assess your best mode of transport… Sorry Martin – and thanks for bringing this to our attention.

If you enjoyed reading that (and you’re not already in the car driving to Lost Ark), you’ll definitely enjoy the rest of Black Gold. Although, as Martin points out about all the stores in Melbourne, “two thirds of them don’t really deserve a mention so they don’t get one”, proving that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure!

Black Gold is definitely one for the punk collectors out there, but still essential reading for anyone on the hunt for records in Melbourne. We’re not exactly sure where you can get a copy today – but as soon as that info comes to hand we’ll share it here. If you’re desperate to get a copy, email us at digmelbourne@gmail.com and we’ll put you in contact with the main man Martin.

Big thanks to Martin for sharing this with us, and apologies for making you “walk for an hour and a half in the baking sun”. Welcome to Melbourne!

Black Gold “Diggin for records in Melbourne”
By Martin. 2015.
Available at specially selected record stores in the near future. (see previous posts for a cover image)

April 22, 2015

SECOND HAND RECORDS, Uncategorized
Diggin’ Melbourne 2015 – Launch Party

To celebrate the release of the 2015 Diggin’ Melbourne map we are throwing a Launch Party at Belleville on Thursday, 16th April. Aside from the new maps, we’ll have vinyl crazy DJs from featured stores (especially those stores that cater for the DJ) dropping in for 60 minute sets. Joining us are Jimmy James of Strictly Vinyl fame, representing Dixons, Johan Elgstrom from Bounce Audio, Ms. Butt repping for Northside, Geezy (Mellowdias Thump) doing it up for Wax Museum Records, and a couple of guests – bringing you an evening super dope sounds and vinyl obscurities.

If you’re a fan/user/addict of Diggin’ Melbourne please come celebrate with us. The needle drops at 7pm, and the sounds continue until late. You can even get your fried chicken fix at Belleville – so come for dinner. If you’re not familiar with Belleville, it’s located in Globe Alley just off Little Bourke St, close to the corner of Swanston St. and Chinatown.

Keep an eye out for Beat magazine this week (out Wed. April 15), who will be doing a special Record Store Day/Diggin’ Melbourne feature – including a full listing of the 54 stores featured in this years map, along with interviews and a run-down of everything that’s happening on Record Store Day.

For our dedicated website users – note that the store guide has already been updated an includes all the new stores as featured in this years map. Get the jump on everyone else and raid the crates before Record Store Day arrives.

+++ If the postman is on the case we might even have a special surprise for the select few at the Launch Party. Earlier this week I received an email from a mysterious character by the name of Martin – a certified vinyl freak. Not only did he visit every store on last year’s map – he made his own fanzine about his adventures, entitled Black Gold. Fingers crossed we’ll have both Black Gold and Martin in the house on Thursday night. Check the cover below – that’s some Mingering Mike kinda shit right there! Right on Martin. We’ll do a proper post on this when it drops.

April 10, 2015

Uncategorized
New maps arriving for Record Store Day

With Record Store Day fast approaching (Saturday April 18), we are in the final stages of finalising this years Diggin’ Melbourne and Diggin’ Sydney record store maps. Both Sydney and Melbourne have again expanded the list of stores – with Melbourne now busting at the seems with 54 stores, and Sydney has broadened their range to include 33 stores from all sides of the city – and even out to Katoomba. There are some exciting new stores for the dedicated!

The Melbourne maps will hit the streets in just a few days – giving you plenty of time to plan your RSD attack! We will once again be collaborating with Beat magazine to present a Record Store Day supplement – listing all the Diggin’ spots plus a full list of Record Store Day activities at all the participating stores. The Beat supplement will be published on Wednesday April 15.

And that’s not all – we are also having a launch party for the 2015 Diggin’ Melbourne map on Thursday April 16 at Belleville in the CBD, with guest DJs and friends. Watch this space for more info. Watch the streets for the new maps – they look like this…

There’s so much action coming your way on Record Store Day it might be an idea to get out there before it happens. Check this – we have a new store in the city called Vinyl Alive, two new shops on Smith Street in Collingwood, Plug Seven (pictured below) and Eureka Rebellion Trading, Vinyl Space opening in upcoming days on Johnston St and a new Goldmine Records on St. Georges Rd in North Fitzroy + other new stores/listings include Prime Cuts in Reservoir, Metal Mosh in Frankston and more to be announced! Full details coming soon.

Pictured above and below: Plug Seven Records in Collingwood – one of the new listings for 2015. A massive selection of vinyl spanning rock, punk, reggae, soul, jazz, latin, funk, hip hop and more + a back room full of bargains. Tell ’em Diggin’ Melbourne sent you!

Want more? We’ll be updating the Diggin’ Melbourne website in upcoming days. Follow us to get notification + a head start!

March 30, 2015

Uncategorized
Diggin’ Melbourne 2015 – Call for entries

With Record Store Day 2015 almost upon us, it’s time to update the Diggin’ Melbourne map. If you’re a new store or know of a new store not currently listed, it’s time to send us the details. We already have some exciting new CBD and Collingwood stores to add! Don’t miss out on your chance. Submissions and payment for the 2015 Map close very soon. Please contact Northside Records for more details – tel. (03) 9417 7557.

We will once again be launching the map in the week leading up to Record Store Day (Sat. April 18), along with a Record Store Day collaboration with Beat Magazine to be distributed on April 15. The Diggin’ Sydney map is also launching their 2015 edition in conjunction with RSD. Watch this space for more details.

Furthermore, we’re having a launch party for the 2015 Diggin’ Melbourne Map and website; featuring DJs from local stores, special guests (TBA) and good times. Thursday 16th April. Venue: Belleville. Thanks to theofficeofpublicworks.com for their support.

March 5, 2015

Uncategorized
Hunter & Co Vintage now open in Preston

Today we’re excited to welcome a new store to Diggin’ Melbourne. Hunter & Co Vintage is the latest addition to our online store guide (find their listing in the Inner-North section of the Store Guide page). Hunter & Co currently stocks around 25 crates of quality second-hand vinyl – 50’s to 90’s Pop, Rock, Jazz, Blues, Indian, Metal, Punk, Soundtracks and also some $5 bargain crates.

Hunter & Co Vintage also stock a selection of turntables & audio gear, mid-century/vintage furniture and collectables, plus a few racks of vintage clothing for the ladies (or gents 😉 ).

We’re also sad to see Pure Pop close the door of their St. Kilda store for the final time. 221 Barkly St has long been a digger’s paradise – since back in the days of Raoul Records with Ben, Declan and Carl through to it’s most recent incarnation as Pure Pop. Dave assures us Pure Pop will be back as soon as a suitable location is found. You can read more about the forced closure and keep up-to-date with Pure Pop here. The downloadable PDF of the Diggin’ Map does not include these latest additions or closures – so make sure you check the online Store Guide for the updated listing.

August 27, 2014

Uncategorized