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Record Shopping, etc in Berlin

Jonny_PaycheckJonny_Paycheck 17,825 Posts
edited June 2011 in Strut Central
I'll be there next week. What are the shops to avoid, the shops that have rotating, reasonably priced stock, the specialties, etc.

There's a big flea market, yes?

I'm with my wife and this is not a Dig Mission. But I might try to get some time in.

Edit: having looked through the city guide, is there a consensus pick for a decent place to find halfway decent records for something resembling reasonable prices? Not looking to score KRAZY HEATROCKS for my shop back home, would be nice to find something nice for myself. I'm into jazz (spiritual, modal) and can dig some kraut stuff.

Anyone that has a night feel free to offer me free beer for a couple hours of music ( on serato unfortunately, due to space restrictions).

Other recommendations (places, sights, restaurants) are welcome too.

  Comments

  • inVrsinVrs 687 Posts
    paging piedpiper. Was digging with him once, showed me some lesser known spots, but dont expect anything crazy. Prices are steep in most places and ridicolously high in some as well. I lived for a good 9 months there but didnt come up with anything worth mentioning. The bigger fleamarkets are overrun, so scoring anything for cheap will take some effort. Maybe someone can prove me wrong? One of the jazzaonva guys is on waxidermy, maybe ask there as well, they know for sure.
  • FrankFrank 2,379 Posts
    Agreed on the ridiculously overpriced stores although most of them don't know what they are doing and often slip... once found a Mathar 45 for 7,- right next to a box of funk 45s that were priced at double the ebay value. It's more fun to stay out of the stores though and hit the fleas. You're bound to come up with at least something decent to take home with you and there'll be plenty of other fun stuff to look at. I love Berlin's fleas. And don't forget to take full advantage of the freedom to walk around with a bottle of beer!
  • disco_chedisco_che 1,115 Posts
    Avoid all the hipster area fleas like Mauerpark and Boxhagener Platz. Bullshit records at high prices just because they are records and old. Most shops seem to act the same way. I usually left these places in a bad mood and without a record. The best places are fleamarkets in the less touristic boroughs. I found some nice items on the flea at Rathaus Sch??neberg but that's not exactly the place you would like to go with your wife because there's nothing really interesting to see.
    Leipzig and Dresden are better for records.
  • fishmongerfunkfishmongerfunk 4,154 Posts
    Paging piedpiper. What's Rhe name of that shop that was chock a block with mps and other euro beat records?
  • FrankFrank 2,379 Posts
    disco_che said:
    Avoid all the hipster area fleas like Mauerpark and Boxhagener Platz. Bullshit records at high prices just because they are records and old. Most shops seem to act the same way. I usually left these places in a bad mood and without a record. The best places are fleamarkets in the less touristic boroughs. I found some nice items on the flea at Rathaus Sch??neberg but that's not exactly the place you would like to go with your wife because there's nothing really interesting to see.
    Leipzig and Dresden are better for records.

    There is a lot of common folk who goes to Mauerpark to sell their shit, the hipsters walk around and know nothing so who cares? I know of plenty of people who came up with heat there. Boxhagener Platz is not the best of them but I've found cool record-unrelated stuff there on occasion.

    I listed you a link for the Rathaus Sch??neberg fleamarket on the other forum, it's listed as "Flohmarkt Sch??neberg" at "John F. Kennedy Platz". It's hit or miss, sometimes it can be great, sometimes it really sucks. I'd try and go there early.

    You can also try the Friedrichshagen fleamarket, I added a link on the other forum, it's a bit out of the way but I remember it being really big and fun.
  • disco_chedisco_che 1,115 Posts
    Frank said:
    disco_che said:
    Avoid all the hipster area fleas like Mauerpark and Boxhagener Platz. Bullshit records at high prices just because they are records and old. Most shops seem to act the same way. I usually left these places in a bad mood and without a record. The best places are fleamarkets in the less touristic boroughs. I found some nice items on the flea at Rathaus Sch??neberg but that's not exactly the place you would like to go with your wife because there's nothing really interesting to see.
    Leipzig and Dresden are better for records.

    There is a lot of common folk who goes to Mauerpark to sell their shit, the hipsters walk around and know nothing so who cares? I know of plenty of people who came up with heat there. Boxhagener Platz is not the best of them but I've found cool record-unrelated stuff there on occasion.

    I listed you a link for the Rathaus Sch??neberg fleamarket on the other forum, it's listed as "Flohmarkt Sch??neberg" at "John F. Kennedy Platz". It's hit or miss, sometimes it can be great, sometimes it really sucks. I'd try and go there early.

    You can also try the Friedrichshagen fleamarket, I added a link on the other forum, it's a bit out of the way but I remember it being really big and fun.

    Mauerpark is clearly the nicer choice for hanging out, having a drink and just glancing at the stuff without too high expectations. Sch??neberg flea is too grimey for a stroll with the family.
    And right every once in a while there's something good slipping under the radar of these dealer assholes and it's deeply satisfying to buy them. Still the common people-professional dealer ratio on these fleas makes me avoid them when I'm really out for hunting records.

    Other places: If it's a warm summer night, go for hanging out and drinking beer by the water outside of "Club der Vision??re". One of the nicest places I have been in Berlin.

    http://www.clubdervisionaere.de/kontakt/
  • tripledoubletripledouble 7,636 Posts
    i know nothing about Berlin, but as a general rule, when i'm in a place thats foreign to me, i want to see their flea markets, whether they have records or not. food markets too. i went to many of both in Thailand and was never disappointed (although i found no records there either)
  • p_gunnp_gunn 2,284 Posts
    i bought a fair amount of records when i was in berlin, almost all from fleas... they are everywhere... yes, some seemed hipper and had more people in the bins (or higher prices) than others, but it seemed like even very small neighborhood ones w/ only a handful of vendors had at least one record guy...

    finding krautrock stuff cheap is pretty hard, as alot of those bands sold more in the UK than they did in germany... i think i got one Can 7" and a decent Kraan LP... i found alot more stuff like The Equals, Creation, Mud, Titanic...

    lots of interesting stuff of all types, so if your wife is interested in, i don't know, 60's european sunglasses, she'll probably find something to keep her occupied...
  • Jonny_PaycheckJonny_Paycheck 17,825 Posts
    p_gunn said:


    lots of interesting stuff of all types, so if your wife is interested in, i don't know, 60's european sunglasses, she'll probably find something to keep her occupied...

    without a doubt.


    Thanks all for the info!
  • inVrsinVrs 687 Posts
    although it might not be your type of music, a sunday morning/afternoon visit to panorama bar can be a nice thing to do as well. DJ Harvey just played there and it was nuts from what i ve heard.
  • Jonny_PaycheckJonny_Paycheck 17,825 Posts
    I'm into all kinds of music (so is the wife). Sunday is when we arrive (and leave) but if we can squeeze it in, it sounds good.
  • MeepMeep 320 Posts
    Bumping this. I'm currently around the prenzlauer area and looking for some good shops. Been hearing some different stories about the Mauerpark flea, but it seems worthwhile to check anyway. Kastanienallee sees good for record shops too, but again it sounds a bit flaky. Any Berlin strutters got some up-to-date tips?
  • piedpiperpiedpiper 1,279 Posts
    Feel free to get in touch; I am here until Saturday.

    Regarding good shops it??s tricky. Worth browsing through if you have the time and also worth checking the fleas, but there usually isn??t that much to find and there are more interesting things to do in the city.
  • MeepMeep 320 Posts
    piedpiper said:
    Feel free to get in touch; I am here until Saturday.

    Regarding good shops it??s tricky. Worth browsing through if you have the time and also worth checking the fleas, but there usually isn??t that much to find and there are more interesting things to do in the city.

    thanks for the reply, I pretty much went for a NRR trip, so it was kind of an extra. Mostly checked the Neukoln area which had some interesting stuff, but definitely not cheap in any way.
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