Sounds of the Universe
7 Broadwick Street London W1F 0DA
Record shops may be a dying breed these days – time was when you could browse away an entire day in Soho’s music shops – but no one seems to have told this thriving store, set immediately below the offices of its sister enterprise, the Soul Jazz record label. Soul Jazz are best known for their CD compilations and re-releases from Jamaica’s legendary Studio One label, but also put out a wide spectrum of little-known soul, Latin, hip-hop and jazz classics, plus labour-of-love books on various obscure genres. The racks at Sounds of the Universe are stocked with choice pickings from other labels too, while in the finest record-shop tradition there’s also a basement, bulging with rare gems, including 12” vinyl singles filed under such categories as “Disco-not-Disco”.