Excuse me if I'm wrong, but I think Phoenix music might be the only CD shop left in the Potts Point…read moreand Kings Cross area. Even without any other physical competition, it must be tough for them to survive in this digital age we live, but some of us do still buy CDs. I had to go inside and check it out when I saw Bjork's Biophilia poster in the window. It's only a little shop, but they still have quite a good selection with some interesting imports and rarities and a range of categories, even though they are eclectic selections, they even have some collectible vinyl editions. Also they have a nice little DVD range, predominantly the art house stuff, which is what interests me. Shops like this used to be everywhere, enjoy them before they're all swallowed up.

Egg Records is a Newtown based second hand record shop. I wonder how much money businesses like…read morethis actually make? As so much of this kind of product can be accessed so easily and usually less expensively online. Egg has a selection of collectible, rare and second hand CDs but its main focus appears to be vinyl, which almost disappeared then returned to cultish popularity but seems so pointless now unless you are buying them just for the cover art as everything is so digital now. I do own records of some of my favourite artists and I do plan to keep them even though I no longer own a turn table, but I am not going out of my way to build a record collection I am at a point where I am even trying to limit the CDs which I buy, so I am a little mystified by Egg and its price range.

Egg Records is located in Wilson street, Newtown, its the first street on the right as you exit the…read morestation. My first visit to the store was a few weeks ago even though I'd walked past it dozens of time. You kind of don't know what to expect from the vintage toy collection on the left window display and their latest CD picks in the front. Walking in I was kindly greeted with milk crates of $5 vinyl goodies. After digging and finding my gold, I also found they had a great selection of records in their standard, non-sale section across a range of genres, a small but decent section of CDs and DVDs and also as the window display suggested some cool retro toys and paraphenalia. Browsing through their DVDs I also walked out with my best buy of the day, 'Graffiti Bridge' the sequel to 'Purple Rain' featuring Prince. It was all and more of what you'd expect from a b grade 90s movie; bad acting, great music, cheezy props and awesome costumes. Some really good finds to be had at this store.

Now this is a bar that I could really spend a decent amount of time at, if only because it is one…read moreof those unique places. Basically it is a bar that also doubles as a recordshop, or is it a record shop that happens to have a liquor license. I'm actually not sure which, but it does have a pretty cool vibe about it. It is also a basement bar, and these basement bars tend to have a life all of their own. Yep, this is certainly one that is going to be at the top of my list. Oh, you can also take your beers into the record shop while browsing.

Stopped in for a few cocktails on a Friday with some friends. The theme of the bar is music and…read morethey stay true to form. I loved all the records and the music blasting once we got underground. This bar is tiny, and it was definitely full upon our arrival, luckily, we were able to snag a table after a couple of minutes. I was quickly able to grab a drink, a gin and soda for 9 bucks, not too bad for the price and make my way through the lounge. My friend ordered a margarita which was quite small, didn't taste very good and was 19 dollars. Overall, I enjoyed my time here, I felt the drinks were decently priced, aside from the margarita, the staff was friendly, and the vibe was cool.

Do you like CD's? Music? Records? Books about CD's, music and records? If you answered yes to any…read moreof these questions you probably like musical CD's about records too. The Vintage Record Shop on Parramatta Road is a small and interesting shop with a large range of second hand CD's, Vinyl and books on the subject. The interior is possessed of dim lighting and a welcoming vibe, as though it's a shop which wants your patronage. There are piles and shelves full of stock for perusing, either for interest or purchase, though I'm sure they'd prefer purchase, but sometimes it's nice, just to look at the artefacts of history and their colourful shiny cases. There's often some intriguing finds made here, perhaps not as intriguing as finding a dinosaur fossil in the desert when you were sure that there were no dinosaurs at Kernel sand tunes, but still intriguing all the same, and much more likely. So whether you're an archaeologist who likes music, or a musician arcs his oligist (That intentionally made no sense. I apologise whole heartedly.) then there is some quality time lying just around the corner for you, should you wander into the Vintage Record.

I've always been meaning to go to this store on Parramatta road, as I pass by on the bus and today…read morewas the day I decided to get off and check it out alongside the bass shop next door. The store's great, got a great feel to the place when you step in, and has a good selection of funk and jazz records along with alot of other genres too, including an Australian section. The $1 and $5 bins had some goodies in there too, which I always like to dig through, A Quincy Jones album, 'the dude' and George Duke's and Stanley Clarke's, 'the Clarke/Duke project' were my gems of the day. There were also some cool turntables about the place, old memorabilia on sale and the best thing ever was the boombox that could play vinyl! Unfortunately the record player didn't work and it wasn't on sale, but that's still the coolest thing that I saw that week! The owner Phil, who also served me was real nice, definitely a big plus in my books. When you go to a store and the owner's are actually kind and friendly people, that makes me want to go back to the place and support local!

Booklovers, rejoice! All is not lost. In the age of ipads and kindles, book shops still exist in…read moresuburban malls. Dymocks is a fine example of one such book shop, and keeps me coming back time and time again. Having stood the test of both time and exorbinant Warringah Mall rent, Dymocks has been there as long as I can remember. With the exception of textbooks, I reckon every book I've bought in Australia can trace itself to that shop. I love the shelf of classic Penguins, the music books, the cooking books, the contemporary fiction... I just love it, and will sit down on the floor and read all day if you don't stop me! Dymocks exclusively employs people who feel this way, creating a goooood vibe in the store. As detailed above, the range of books is fantastic. The store itself is well-lit (essential in a bookstore), and smells fantastic thanks to the attached coffee shop. If you're in the market for a story, you'd do well to stop in here and purchase something beautiful/funny/meaningful/sad/happy/informative/escapist. It;s all here.

"Op Shop" is Aussie for Thrift Store (it's short for opportunity shop if you were wondering). And…read morealthough the St Vincent De Paul Op Shop- henceforth to be known as Vinnies- on Hall St Bondi is not as thrifty as some it has plenty of opportunity to pick up some designer threads and wicked CDs. (I know, I'm sorry, that was a total Dad joke). You never know what you'll find at Op Shops of course and that's a big part of the fun, but there are certain locations that the elves that do the sorting send all the good stuff to (well that's my theory and I'm sticking to it!) and Hall St Vinnies is definitely one of them. They know their labels so you won't find a Dior scarf in the $2 bin. But you will have found a Dior scarf at an Op Shop for 20 bucks and all proceeds go to charity, so you still win! Having said that, I once found a pair of genuine Gucci shades there for $10 so you never know your luck. It's not all designer stuff though, they have the usual array of retro, average, hideous or trendy clothes mostly around the $7 - $12 mark and a decent collection of cool men's t-shirts. Hall St Vinnies also seems to have an unending supply of fantastic CDs and decent books, maybe due to the amount of backpackers that spend enough time in the area to build up a collection and then have to offload it all when they're heading home? I don't question, I just appreciate.

Great finds for a good cause. Reduce, reuse, recycle & look fabulous doing it!…read more Clothes assorted by color and type of garment. Very nice shoe selection and lots of baubles to tempt your inner magpie. Also a high end section if you're a label whore. Good stuff! Relatively high quality items and when I was there a dreamy French chanteuse on the speakers, and lively friendly ambiance made for a great overall experience.

Having walked past this place numerous times I thought it was about time to see why this place has…read morebeen around for a while. The small record store was full with people digging the crates lining the walls of the store and I managed to get in easily to the bargain bin at the front that I thought was a little bit overpriced for a bargain bin, with prices starting from $10. That being said, there prices were soon justified as I found most of the items were good, hard to come by finds and some that blew me away, like "Juicy" by Wrecks'N'Effect. I never knew that Mtume's Juicy had also been sampled by them, I thought it was only Biggie, but then after google-ing later that day, I was soon to find out that a whole heap of artists had actually sampled this track. Thanks record store for opening my eyes to another sample off a golden classic.

Very trendy record store in Surry Hills, The tunes that are racked up here are all about a good…read moretime and have a very particular sound. A great range of dance records, electronica, dubstep D&B, soul and funk and a wide range of CD's. The staff are really friendly and they are able to help out with any requests for help. I really enjoyed browsing through the stuff here, they don't mind you taking a look. You can sample the pieces through earphones, and the staff can help you with that too. They buy and sell records here, they also have DJ acessories, needles, headphones record bags.

Abbey's is a great bookshop with a culty edge, they used to own Galaxy Bookshop on the same street…read morewhich is now closed and some of the sci-fi stock has been incorporated into Abbey's, check the window display for the very cute Star Wars soft toys (I want a Yoda, he is so cute). Being one of Sydney's larger bookshops Abbey's has a very large range, but the reason I like it is not so much for their books but the DVDs. Abbey's offers possibly the most extensive foreign film DVD selection in Sydney, they have many deleted titles and many imports. If you are looking for films by the greats of foreign cinema such as Bergman, Ozon, Haneke, Fellini, Antonioni, Abbey's is the place to find them. Oh and grab me a Yoda on the way out.

I was, for a time, what can only be described as a Frankophile. That's someone who is obsessed with…read morethings a la Francois. I got heavily into the music of Raphael, Camille, Serge Gainsbourg and even Vanessa Paradis. I was watching French Films like a maniac, and I even endeavoured to take up the ancient art of speaking the language. I decided the best way to do this (Well, not the best way, but the most accessible, the cheapest and the most likely that I would follow it through.) would be to purchase some French Speaking CD's and utilise the lessons therein. With a reputation for language books and media, I journeyed to Abbey Books just behind the QVB. Which has now taken into its premises the science fiction bookshop, Galaxy. I had no idea which one would be the ideal course for me so I got some advice from the staff there, he asked me questions about outcomes and reasons to learn and such and then pointed me in the right direction. I purchased my audio lessons and thanked the man. And after many a jog around the bay with my headphones in, repeating french phrases as I jogged. Probably looking like a looney from Paris talking to himself, I learnt the ancient art of Conversational French. Though I still can't have a conversation in it, unless that conversation is asking how you are, you say fine and then I buy something from you.