In the month which saw high-street stalwart HMV plunge into administration, Broughton is lucky to retain perhaps the finest of Edinburgh’s few surviving independent music retailers: Vinyl Villains on Elm Row.
VV has been buying and selling since 1983 and, according to founder Adam Waters, owes its occasionally precarious continuance to people 'with a discerning taste in music, who refuse to be brainwashed into accepting the regurgitated gunge that passes for culture today’.
The shop stocks an extraordinary range of 1960s sounds, soul, classic rock, world music, hip-hop, reggae, soundtracks, folk, metal, blues and jazz.
Aficionados come to browse through original 1970s rock and prog LPs, punk 7” singles, heavy-metal picture discs, heavy vinyl reissues, CDs and DVDs. In total, there are probably over 10,000 items. For the true enthusiast, there are also T-shirts featuring obscure icons such as the DJ Howlin' Wolf and the 1971 Gong album Camembert Electrique.
There’s also a stock of new releases on CD for, despite the name, VV really aren’t overly picky about the format. They're more passionate about music, and the ability of free-thinking listeners to access and share their consuming passion.
Long may they continue!
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