Record Store Day 2022: From free shrubs to DJ sets here are the best vinyl shops to visit in London

Record Store Day is back on April 23 and record stores across London are enticing people in with a whole host of goodies.

Whether you’re after freebies or to see some live music, we have you covered on the top five places to visit this Saturday.

Here’s LondonWorld’s Record Store Day recommendations:

Shrubs & Dubs

61a Hackney Road, London, E2 7NX

Shrubs & Dubs are celebrating Record Store Day in a unique way.

The store will be giving away a free shrub with every record purchased to customers, as well as free tote bags.

Shrubs and Dubs opened in 2021, post pandemic and is the first concept store to sell records and plants together.

Keiran from Shrubs & Dubs said “We’re really excited to be participating in our first Record Store Day event this weekend.

“It’s a great way to introduce people to incredible music that they might not be aware of and a great way to introduce Record Store Day regulars to our shop.”

The record store loves to showcase local talent and support independent artists, with a majority of items in store being handcrafted.

Casbah Records

320-322 Creek Road, Greenwich, London, SE10 9SW

Casbah Records has a whole host of ways to celebrate Record Store Day, when they open their doors at 8am.

They have limited Record Store Day releases and new second-hand and vintage vinyl.

Graham from Casbah said “We also have hundreds of limited releases and a huge amount of rare collectable vintage vinyl which is going out for the first time on the day.”

Casbah will have live music from 2.30pm with the local musicians The Spang Sisters performing.

A raffle will be on offer to customers with all proceeds going to support Refuge and Guide Dogs for the Blind.

There’s also incentive to get here early with free Meantime Brewery beer given away to the first 25 people and free custom designed Casbah tote bags and badged for the first 25 people.

Peckham Soul

Bussey Building, 133 Rye Lane, Peckham, SE15 4ST

Peckham Soul is running its Record Store Day celebrations with exclusive issues, limited editions and one of releases from a host of musical greats, including Bowie, The Doors and The Kinks.

The store will also be offering the Record Store Day exclusive shiny vinyl.

A spokesperson from the store said “Music is communication and Peckham Soul aims to create a space for as many diverse musical voices as possible to tell their story.

“Our Record Store Day 2022 collection reflects this, with every artist from Soul and funk, Roots and reggae, to Afrobeat, Indie and Psych.

“The communication is also about being engaged with the community in which the shop lives.

“So for our Peckham Soul live event we’ve aimed to shine a light on the engaging creative musical talent of South East London, with Deadletter, Sea of Love, Rye Guy all based within our area.”

This is a free event but is ticketed so you need to book your ticket in advance by emailing [email protected] and collecting your ticket in store on the day.

Whilst in store, enjoy their live DJ sets from Father Phoenix, Alex Curran and Guests.

Level Crossing Records

49 Sheen Lane, East Sheen, London, SW14 8AB

Level Crossing Records will be opening their doors at 8am when the Record Store Day vinyl officially goes on sale.

To celebrate the day, there will be live acoustic performances from English folk rock band Treetop Flyers, who have previously won the Glastonbury Festival Emerging Talent Competition.

Level Crossing Records have also created a special honesty box to help raise funds for Ukraine by selling uncovered gems from its archives, including a one of a kind photograph of Nick Cave on stage being auctioned off for fundraising efforts.

Mark from LCR told LondonWorld “For a small independent record store like us Record Store Day is about as exciting as it gets.

“Nothing beats seeing the queue when we arrive in the morning and all the vinyl fans chatting about what they are hunting for.”

The store will also be stocking many Record Store Day special releases, including Taylor Swift - The Lakes 7”, Blondie - Sunday Girl EP and Paul McCartney - Women and Wives 12”.

Level Crossing Records will also be continuing their celebrations after the store closes at 5pm, where the Record Store Day after party will continue at Micro Beers in East Sheen from 6pm - 11pm.

Flashback Records

131 Bethnal Green Road, London, E2 7DG

Flashback Records will be celebrating Record Store Day in style with a live performance from Goya Gumbani.

He will be performing a special SP - 404, with is lax rap flowing throughout the store.

The London via New York rapper has recently been touring with Jay Electronica and Wu-Tang Clan’s GZA.

Flashback will be hosting special celebrations across their three stores in Islington, Crouch End and Shoreditch.