Located just 45 minutes from Vienna by train, Bratislava is a beautiful small city in Slovkia with a very charming center. It also has quite a few music stores. While we were only there for a day trip as part of our Vienna vacation, I of course carved out a bit of time and made it to three shops.
Dr. Horák
19, Medená 108, 811 02
This small shop was filled with almost exclusively new vinyl, which normally isn’t what I’m looking for. What I was looking for, however, was clearly labeled with a sign that read “Bootlegs”. It might be more appropriate to refer to these as “unofficial live records”, but regardless I was drawn to them like a moth to flame, like Hall to Oates.
These were all new, sealed records with slick packaging, a far cry from the old Trade Mark of Quality stuff. The usual suspects were here – Zeppelin, the Stones, Pink Floyd. But there were also multiple titles for Metallica, KISS, Def Leppard, and… George Michael? Yup. I’ve only seen this many boots in one store once, and that store shall remain nameless as such records are of dubious legality in my home country (and served as the starting point to my Led Zep live collection). Did I pick up any to bring home with me? Of course I did. Specifically the two volume, 4xLP set of Jimmy Page and Robert plant playing San Jose, California in 1995. Will it be any good? No clue. But I’m looking forward to getting these home and finding out.
So if you’re looking for the live, Dr. Horák has you covered.
[CENSORED]
[Undisclosed Location]
I don’t like to talk a lot of shit on Life in the Vinyl Lane. So let’s just say the second shop I stopped at fell way, way short. From the second I opened the door and was assaulted by the smell of mildew and unresolved moisture issues I knew it would need to be something special to get me to stay. And it wasn’t anything special. In fact even without the smell I don’t think I would have stayed more than a few minutes. I’m pretty sure I have black lung now, though.
House of Fun
Zámočníka 399/11, 811 03
After coughing up a lung following my visit to [CENSORED], I almost gave up on shopping for this trip. But, dear readers, I know I may never be in Bratislava again, and what if that one record, that one perfect record, was just waiting for me at the next store? I’m sure you can relate. So I took a little walk over to House of Fun.
A small shop, House of Fun is well appointed with both new and used releases, including some sections dedicated to local artists. And when you can find some Czech heavy metal from 1990, the year after Communism’s startling collapse in Europe, and that band is called Metalinda, and on the back cover a guy is swinging a flaming guitar to create a fiery circle, you buy that record. Out of respect for those bad-asses that started rocking together a few years before the fall, when rocking was probably a bit dangerous. And not fake dangerous like hair metal in Los Angeles circa 1985. But the kind of dangerous where one day you just… disappear, and no one asks why. All hail Metalinda!
I highly recommend Bratislava for a visit simply because the historic city center is beautiful. Plus if you happen to go, there are a couple of good shops to pop into.