The world's greatest record shops picked by Primal Scream, Paul Weller, Patti Smith & more

Check out a list of all this year’s exclusive Record Store Day releases now, plus here’s where some of our favourite artist will be shopping.

“My favourite record shop was Stand Out Records in Notting Hill Gate, London. It had a doorway like a church and when you walked in there two counters, one on the left and one on the right, and you either brought records from one or the other. It was a psychedelic, garage shop, I used go there just to hang out to chat. I mostly brought my records from the counter on right! It shut two-and-a-half years ago and it really affected me. I loved that shop. At the moment I go to Rough Trade East a lot, along with Flashback and Haggle Vinyl on Essex Road in London. But I really miss Stand Out!”

“I have to pick two. Rough Trade and Sister Ray in London. There ain’t many left anyway but they’re my two favourites. They’ve both got great people working there, very knowledgeable. They’ve got everything, man. There have been so many times that I’ve gone into those shops after one record and come out with ten records I’ve never heard before and I love that.”

“Prime Cuts on Gloucester Road in Bristol is a brilliant record shop for tracking down anything rare. It’s in the basement of a second hand furniture shop. For new releases, I love Rise [also in Bristol]. They’re really proactive, always supporting new acts, putting bands on.”

“When I was growing up it was Rhythm Division. With what we used to do in the grime days it was the place to go to get all your vinyl. I’m from Bow and it was up town on Roman Road. It was the place everyone went to get what the needed, all the new releases.”

There’s a cool record store in Oxford that was on the verge of closing down but it’s great and it’s hanging around. It’s called Truck Store and it’s on Cowley Road. It’s a great record store. I love being in there browsing around. “

“I buy a lot of classical records, so there is one in the East Village [New York] that I go to get old CDs, or I’ll buy stuff on the road. I’m more of a book person than a record person but you could talk endlessly with Lenny Kaye about record stores because I think he knows every record store in the world!”

“I think my favourite record store in the world is Amoeba Music in California [there are branches in Berkley, Los Angeles and San Francisco], it’s great. It’s just full of any kind of record that you would ever want. You can get lost in there for the entire day.”

“Sound Fix in Williamsburg, Brooklyn was my go-to record vendor. But it closed on Record Store Day a few years ago, which sucks. Beside the fact that it’s conveniently located midway between my apartment and my band’s rehearsal space, it boasted a selection of records that was fiercely supportive of local music and was so impeccably curated that it’d be worth walking miles out of one’s way to visit. Also, we once played an in-store performance there, which was about 300 percent less excruciating than one has any right to expect of an in-store in hipster-lousy Williamsburg, so it’s got the lucky aura of nearly-averted catastrophe for me. Farewell, my friend.”

“There’s an amazing second hand record shop on Bold Street in Liverpool. It’s called Hairy Records and has everything, including a lot of really good, obscure surf stuff. It’s rough and ready, no nonsense!”

“There’s only one left in LA and that’s my favourite – Amoeba. There’s a handful of vinyl only shops but apart from that Amoeba is the last one left. It’s huge. It literally has everything. It’s like a big box store of obscure music.”

“Can I have two? Paul Weller’s got two? I might need three. Rare And Racy and Record Collector, both in Sheffield. To be honest I love them all. If it’s an independent shop I can guarantee I love it. Each one has it’s own vibe, unlike the chains which are so homogenous these days. It’s not just independent shops it’s independent thinking. I’ve always liked independent record stores, they’ve contributed to me becoming drug free as much as anything assistance from anywhere else, because when I turned up in a city, unlike the old days of, Where’s the dealer? You’d be going Where’s the record shops? That kept me clean by keeping me out of dodgy places… and using up my cash! There’s also a really boss shop in Camden I need to mention too called Sounds That Swim. That’s three, I might have to phone Mr Weller and tell him.”

“Probably my favourite is David’s Music in Letchworth. I have spent many, many hours in there going through the second-hand vinyl bins grabbing armfuls of ridiculously cheap records that I feel I really should know but in my ignorance have managed to miss out on. I’ve rarely gone in looking for anything specific, but just by sifting through patiently and seeing what catches my eye, I have bought hundreds of albums in there – Aphex Twin, Stevie Wonder, Cat Stevens, weird 1940s big band albums, anything really. It’s the loveliest and most instinctive way to discover music.”

For more on this year’s event including product and instore events taking place on Saturday head to Recordstoreday.co.uk.