Rat Records

Saturdays at Rat Records are a treat for record-collectors who like a broad range of music, but not many record-collectors seem to know about it.

Those who are in the know will most likely be part of an orderly queue outside the shop in time for the grand opening at half ten in the morning. Having sifted through any recently acquired collections from the week, the staff put out a sizeable selection of great new/old vinyl on the shelves and then open the front door so the frenzy can begin. Frenzy may be a bit of an overstatement - people aren’t exactly fighting over Fela Kuti LP’s but there is an undeniable air of excitement that I haven’t felt in a record shop for a long time.

I spoke briefly with Dominic and Philippe, the stalwarts behind the counter, and was regaled with a few stories from Rat Records’ history vault. For example, Tom Fisher, founder of the store, once bought a collection of thousands of records from the Stereo MCs. As the story goes, the Stereo’s blew a massive portion of an advance from their record label on hundreds of crates of potential sample sources. Amusingly, or perhaps upsettingly, it turns out they were snapping up records willy-nilly on the basis of “interesting covers” rather than musical content. Doesn’t sound too different from Supermarket Sweep – just with aisles full of black-crack, less Dale Winton and a much better soundtrack. Another interesting fact… Some lucky sod found a record in RR that eventually sold on EBAY for £2300. Foregoing your Saturday morning lie-in doesn’t seem like such a bad idea anymore.

Rat Records isn’t far from Oval Tube. I recommend you get there on Saturdays for 10.30am if not before. Those of you who own [far-too] dusty records can take advantage of the specialist vinyl-cleaning facility RR have at £2 a pop. What else… a great CD selection with plenty of albums and compilations that you don’t see around enough (I found an old Fila Brazilia with their inspirational remix of ‘Cotton Wool’ by Lamb); in-store art exhibitions; a highly coveted Danny Breaks EP; and to the right of the counter they have an excellent hard-to-find but not-for-sale Funki Porcini poster; they also buy your old CDs and records if they’re in good condition. See you on Saturday morning.