Skateboarding to 6 record stores in Innsbruck

Innsbruck is a skateboard friendly city, so I got on my board and hunted down record stores in the city centre.

I bought my first vinyl record in 1999 when I started DJing at the age of 15 – the love for record collecting began.

Little did I know when I first moved here that there is a good selection of record stores in Innsbruck. First of all I found Downtown Sound and Musikladen and over time I have discovered more. Since then, new ones have emerged just like NABU Records, which opened five weeks ago.

Innsbruck – a skateboard friendly city.

Last year vinyl albums out-sold digital downloads for the first time, this is great news for the industry and more importantly, the artists. So when you’re in Innsbruck, check out these stores and any others I might have missed. What records can you find?

NABU Records

Innstrasse 43
Thu – Sat 11:00 – 19:00
More info

NABU Records.

I started on the other side of the Inn river to the city centre. This small record store is run by Robert who collects a lot of his stock from Central and South America and North Africa.

Lounging vibe at NABU.

He has some very rare records, some are the only ones in Europe and possibly the only copy outside of Sudan.

Robert from NABU Records in Sudan meeting the Godfather of Sudanese music to his left.

Robert told me about his friend from Germany who now lives in Sudan. She started a skateboard community called Yalla Go Skate Khartoum. So whenever he returns, he takes lots of boards with him for the kids to use. Wicked!

This store has a mix of classics, Latin, African, Arabic and rarities. The collection is a representation of his travels around the world, which I find very interesting. He has a nice collection of 7” and sells record players that have been restored. There are also some cassette tapes in store too.

I bought an old Algerian record in brand new condition that Robert found in Morocco:

Abdelwahab Doukkali – Twist

The lounge setting is very inviting for you to listen to music, have a chat over a coffee or a beer and buy records. From September onwards he plans to open the store on more days and for longer into the evening.

The Wearhouse X rtct.records

Marktgraben 19
Mon – Fri 09:30 – 19:00 + Sat 09:30 – 18:00
More info

The Wearhouse X rtct.records.

The next record store en-route is part of the fashion store Wearhouse. There is a small selection of House and Techno records from local and international labels. The records are stocked by fellow DJ and the boss of RTCT Records, Georg Waldmüller.

Relaxed listening corner.

Wearhouse is a creative lifestyle store where creative expression is at its core. The walls are used as a space to exhibit art from local artists. Menswear is downstairs, womenswear is upstairs with a hair salon. This store is where fashion, music and art come together.

Their plan is to expand the store into next door, so there will be more records, a larger listening area, a DJ booth and a bar. We can look forward to this later in the year!

The record I bought is by A:lex. He is from Innsbruck, lives in Vienna and has his own label called Leap Records.

A:lex and Phil Madeiski – various singles.

Nowhere Store

Anichstrasse 20 / Anichstrasse 21
Mon – Fri 11:00 – 19:00 + Sat 11:00 – 18:00
More info

Nowhere Store.

Another clothing store with records is next on my list. Nowhere Store has a nice selection of new and used records. There is a bit of everything in here. It is run by Laurin, another fellow DJ called Hidden Hype.

A nice selection of new and used records.

Here I met a local photographer Fabian Perfler who had a mascot with him – a London taxi toy car. We talked about London and clubs, such as Village Underground.

Me with a London taxi outside Nowhere Store. Photo: Fabian Perfler.

I bought an old original of The Shamen. One half of the acid house duo is Mr.C who I have met a couple of times, lovely guy. He now lives in LA, DJs all over the world and releases House and Techno on his label Superfreq.

The Shamen – Hyperreal.

MusikLaden

Sparkassenplatz 2
Mon – Fri 10:00 – 18:00 + Sat 10:00 – 17:00
More info

MusikLaden.

Just off of Maria-Theresien-Strasse, this is the oldest record store in Innsbruck. It was founded in 1982 and is still going strong. It’s nice to visit stores with so much history. Many stores closed down in the early naughties with the influx of digital music and illegal downloads. The stores that survived can now benefit from the increasing demand for music in physical form.

A nicely sized record selection.

Here you can find lots of new Pop Rock, Classical, Reggae / Ska, Movie Soundtracks and some Dance music. Not only on vinyl, but also on CD.

CDs as well as vinyl.

I bought myself a House record by JEPE who is from Portugal, but lives in Berlin and regularly plays in Innsbruck. This track is out on the local Blossom Kollektiv label.

JEPE – Spring Shadow EP.

Downtown Sound

Maria-Theresien-Strasse 42a
Mon – Sat 10:00 – 18:00
More info

Downtown Sound.

This is also an established store with the biggest selection in Innsbruck. Justin has been the new owner for 7 years and is a fellow DJ and Englishman. He is a record digger himself, so knows what diggers are looking for. One year ago, this store moved to its new and more central location on Maria-Theresien-Strasse.

The biggest selection of records.

Justin is in the UK every couple of weeks and brings boxes of records back with him. He stocks something for every style new and second hand. He has lots of boxes for digging, lovely stuff.

Justin showing me where to dig for gems.

New in store are original UK release Elvis singles, some rare with the triangle middle – fill your boots!

Accessories, such as needles, centre pucks, slipmats and more can also be found here, as well as many t-shirts – one of them is Justin’s own designs of Mumford & Sons.

Some of the t-shirts available in Downtown Sound.

Justin also has his own book in store. It features never published before photos of Rock bands in the 60s, 70s and 80s, taken by photographer Ulrich Handl.

Unique photos of Jimi Hendrix and his band.

We had a good chat about music, records and the fascinating photos in the book.

I bought a 7” with a 1950s photo of Innsbruck on the cover. I’m not sure if I would play it much, but the photo is great.

Toni Sulzböck – Auf Wiedersehn in Innsbruck.

Musik Hasslwanter

Museumstraße 17
Tel: 0512 587087

Musik Hasslwanter.

This is the last store I found. It is a digger’s delight with some really old and quirky second hand records. Old Pop, Rock, Classical and lots of Schlager are the main styles found here. What I liked is the back room, which had many boxes of records.

The back room.

The store’s main business is selling musical instruments and sheet music. There is a mini library of books in here too.

Musical instruments also available in store.

My purchase was a Grace Jones LP. I first saw Grace Jones in James Bond A View To A Kill, then I saw her sing live in Sydney, wow what a show!

Grace Jones – Warm Leatherette.

To finish up

After the last store, I skated to Landhausplatz, which is a skatepark outside the parliament building.

Skateboarding outside the parliament building in Innsbruck.

There are other parks in the city too, my favourite is the Tivoli Skatepark opposite the Olympic stadium with lovely views on the mountains and a nice bowl. The big indoor park is Skatehalle Innsbruck and there are a handful of others dotted around the city.

Using the cycle lanes to get around on my board.

Here’s the route on Google Maps:

What I love about record shopping is not only the digging and listening to music, but the conversation with the people in the store. Also when you buy a record (especially used), you are buying a piece of history with many stories attached to it. And even if you don’t have a record player (yet ;-)), vinyls are really cool souvenirs just like the Auf Wiedersehn in Innsbruck 7″ I bought in Downtown Sound. It will be going on my wall with a perfectly sized picture frame, also available in this shop. Happy digging!

All photos were taken by me unless otherwise stated.

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