My first time in Porto, and I had everything planned, down to the printed Google map of the interesting record stores. Well, by "interesting" I mean : all the record stores, as I only had three listed. And it seemed it would be it. But for a city this size, it's enough if the quality is met. Once there, the list happened to be extended.
The first stop I did was at CD&GO. CD... well, bad start. But right when you enter the store, there are vinyl records displayed. That's the vinyl trash bin, as well as a few accessories to clean your records. The staff use them before putting the second-hand records into the crates for sale. On the ground floor, you can find a few records, announced as discounted, even if the discount is not as big as you could expect (like 15€ instead of 20€ or so). These are mostly new records. Upstairs is where you wanna be and dig. Both new and second-hand records are waiting for you. The selection is nice. Prices range from affordable to very expensive (for example, a limited edition of "In Utero" by Nirvana, labelled at 100 euros). There's a bit for everyone. All the records, even the second-hand ones, are sealed, but you can ask for a listening session or to look at them. Normally, the condition should be ok.
The place is architecturally quite modern, very lofty, very nicely decorated. The kind of place you would like to live at. The staff is friendly, speak English and will accept your foreign credit card.
When looking for the place, look up at the end of the Rua Ceidofeita, when you see four Beatles in the sky, you hit the right location.
Then I headed to Louie Louie, which stands as a reference in Portugal, as they have a store in Lisbon and another one in Porto. The main difference with CD&GO is that they won't take your foreign credit card, so be sure you have enough cash before digging. The shop is not far from the City Hall. Very simply laid down, two lines of crates in the middle and here you go. Some interesting stuff but maybe too much of that 80's sound for my taste. Once again, if you're looking for old Portuguese rock, you'll be disappointed, as these are rarities and as such, rarely hit such public crates. So, maybe you'll have to be satisfied with a couple of compilations (which they have) or reissues (which they have also).
The listening station is not the most comfortable I've experienced, but still, they will let you listen to whatever you want, as that's good enough.
As I was walking back to my hotel with my Louie Louie bag, I passed by a shop with no visible sign, but I saw records inside. So I got in. Actually, it was in my list, but I was expecting at least a sign outside, but nothing. This is
Muzak. Awesome place. It's actually a space filled with several stands, the records occupying most of the space, but there is also some art and handicraft displayed and for sale, as well as vintage clothes. All this combined gives a nice vibe to the place.
But, back to the records. Lots of rock and pop, a bit of jazz, a bit of Portuguesa, some classical, some Brazilian stuff, well a bit of everything. And on top of that, below the crates, more crates and more mess with non-organized records, most of them being discounted. And, what makes it probably the best record stores of all, beside the kind and helpful owner, is the listening station. Damn, that seat is comfortable, the turntable is just there, waiting for anyone willing to listen to some record. To be honest, I bought about a dozen records and must have listened to three to four times this amount of records.
This place is really Porto's best kept secret in terms of record shopping, as there was nobody waiting in line to push me out of the listening seat.
While talking about record stores with the owner, he even gave me the name of a last one :
Porto Calling.
The next day, I went to
Porto Calling. It's located Rua Conceiçao, behind the City Hall. When you see the big sign "Hotel Malaposta", you got the right location.
The first impression was bad. I explain : the sign on the door and information on the web state an opening hour at 11am. It was nearly 11:30am, and the shop was closed, with the lights out. Bad. I told myself "alright, let's get back at 2pm, after the lunch break, indicated once again on the front door". So, I came back at 2:15pm. Closed again, but this time with the lights on. "Those guys really have a problem with opening hours"... alright, I went for a walk, with the intent to let the guy take his leak, and found another record store just two streets away.
This one is called
Materia Prima, but you won't find any sign saying that. It's written in really small characters (I guess that must be a trendy thing, leaving no trace of your existence, some kind of anti-conformism... or maybe not) on the front but looking at the shop, all you'll see is an art gallery. That's because the space is divided in two : an art exhibition at the front, and a record store/book store at the back, behind the back-door (I hope you still follow). These are two different businesses.
Somehow,
Materia Prima reminded me of
Flur, the record store located on the docks, in Lisbon (and which happened to be a competitor, as Materia Prima has a shop in Lisbon also) : same kind of selection, made of new labels, modern obscure stuff, brand new records, genres that I don't know (folktronica ?). You'll find some used records, mainly useless, under the main crates. The guy behind the counter is really nice, speaks French and English. You can listen to the records you want (even sealed) on a Stanton turntable. Materia Prima is the store you wanna shop at if you're into new concrete music, and stuff from small labels. They also have CD's. I wasn't sure about payment by foreign credit card, so I just handed cash. Fair prices, most new stuff being tagged at 20€.
After I bought one record from Materia Prima, I tried again
Porto Calling, and the loud music told me it was open. Indeed it was. One thing record stores owners should know is that very loud music inside the store is not a good thing... anyway...
Porto Calling is mainly about rock. No stuff from nowadays, but only vintage music, either used or reissued. Actually, it's kind of the perfect fit with Materia Prima. Porto Calling have a strange way of organizing records, so you may have to go over all the crates. For example, artists are organized by first names : Neil Young is in the "N" section. You just have to know it, as it seems to almost be the same in other shops. A Technics turntable is available to listen to your selection in order to make sure you don't purchase shitty stuff.
Considering Portugal is home of quite a few labels specialized in reissues (Groovie Records, Golden Pavilion, etc.) and with Spain and its own labels close-by (Vinilissimo, Wah Wah, etc.), Porto Calling manages to get some interesting reissues at good prices (between 15€ and 20€ generally). They have some interesting Italian psychedelic/progressive records that I saw for the first time. Overall, the shop is a good spot. In a chat with the guy behind the cashier (he was not the owner), I learned that the guy from
Muzak can be considered an expert at mixing old school 7" records in parties.
By the way, once again, cash is the better option.
Porto met my expectations, that I didn't place too high anyway. But it's a nice place for record shopping. Records are not overpriced, and for a city this size, having around 5 good stores is a good ratio. Plus, all the staff I met were nice, helpful, and took good care of their respective places.
Maybe the city is missing a few flea markets and/or
impromptu locations, at least I haven't seen any. But again, if there had been one, it would probably had been filled with traditional folk, probably not the kind you're looking for.
Have a good dig in Porto !
