Athens Record Shops Part 1: Monastiraki to Syntagma

Entrance to Ifestou from Monastiraki Sq.

I'm back in Athens for a few days and doing the rounds of the city's record shops for the sake of this blog, trying hard not to buy anything. After the latest in a series of moves, I've found out I've ran out of space. The last available space on the wall is taken up by my 4 new IKEA CD towers and the space over the bookcase by boxes of CD's. I estimate I can squeeze in another hundred or so CD's, which normally takes me about 6 months. And as I don't feel like moving again so soon, I showed exemplary restraint this time. Now, I know that I recently said that Delft feels more like home now than Athens does, but I've walked up and down every street here in the Athens center so many times it's hard to deny I have an unbreakable bond to this city. Especially Monastiraki, where I've spent so many hours looking for records - every week for more than 20 years. I started collecting vinyl during the late 80's, when most of the action took place on Sunday morning on an alley. Sellers would unload boxes of records from their cars and line them up on the street. No matter how early they'd come, the most fervid collectors were already there, eager to snatch the rarest and best pieces. Now, for a normal first-year student, Sunday morning simply does not exist - You get to see the sun go up, but that just happens at the end of Saturday night. Sunday itself begins at the afternoon. But I would ignore that law, get up after 3 or 4 hours of sleep and go down to Monastiraki with a plastic cup of strong café frappé in one hand and try to flip through stacks of vinyl one-handed. Monastiraki square is at the heart of the old Athens neighborhood. Visitors can't miss it as it's an integral part of the tourist trail. It's at the beginning of the walk from the Monastiraki metro station (served by the blue and green line) to the Acropolis through the ancient agora and the pittoresque old Plaka neighborhood. Or you can choose to take the pedestrian road running parallel to the railroad tracks and walk to Thission, also a good choice. Third option, just stay on the square and try some souvlaki from one of the 3 most historic pitta and souvlaki establishments in Athens, all situated here: Bairaktaris may be the favorite of politicians who want to get close to the common folk, but it's also a simple tavern with typical Greek food. Thanassis is famous for a different reason: His award-winning kebab is served in a pitta with a just bit of tomato and onions, no tzatziki or fries so that you can taste the meat better. Be advised that takeaway is much, much cheaper than sitting at a table. It's also worth mentioning here that, while Turkish kebab may mean a number of different meats (including donner) in Greece it refers to a very specific long burger from minced lamb & beef meat which is pricked with a skewer and grilled on fire. Third option is Savvas, another kebab specialist who also offers gyros as well as pork and chicken souvlaki (skewered pieces of meat). Savvas has 2 shops on the square, the new one at Ermou street also sporting a terrace with a great view of the Acropolis. I don't know if you can tell, but it's well after midnight and I'm really hungry and thinking of food when I should be discussing records instead. Just rewind now for a moment: You were exiting the train station.

7+7, Ifestou Str.

Ignore the souvlaki, and spend a moment mentally seeing the city's history unfolding in front of your eyes: on your right hand, there's Hadrian's library (2nd Century A.D.) and the Ottoman period mosque (18th Century). Straight ahead, the small 10th Century church that gave the square its name ("little monastery") and, above it all, the ancient city Acropolis (5th Century B.C.). On your left, a banner reads "Athens Flea Market". This is the entrance to Ifestou street, where you can buy anything from clothes to antiques, musical instruments, army uniforms and -most importantly- records and CD's. The oldest of the surviving stores on the street is 7+7, known to older generations as "Vassilakas". I'd like to think its name is an Arthur Lee and Love reference, but I really don't know for sure. In any case, it's a historic record shop, sadly in decline for a decade but still worth a visit. Used LPs typically cost €7-15 and new ones €20 or more. CD's mostly between €5(used) and 10. There are also some LP's/CD's for €1, mostly junk. As with everywhere in Greece, collectors should carefully check the condition of vinyl records as some of them may be close to unplayable. Taking up most of the gallery on your right hand and the basement underneath, there's Zaharias. After playing with some local rock bands, the owner went into the vinyl trade, starting with a few boxes in the alley on Sundays, and now running one of the biggest second hand records and CD shop in the country. It's where the largest part of my record collection ended up during the great vinyl purge. Most LP's cost €7-20, although some are on discount (either €2,5 or 50% of the starting price). All kinds of music but especially good in 80's/90's alternative albums. CD's typically go for €3,5-10. There are also many LP's and CD's for €1, for those who don't mind sorting through the junk in the hope of finding something interesting. In any case, it's impossible not to find something you'll like for a good price.In the next alley on your right you'll find Mr.Vinylios, who -you may have guessed- focuses mostly on vinyl. He does have some cheap CD's (€1-8) in the shop on your left hand, but the alley and right hand shop are filled with vinyl. You'll find lots of classic rock, metal, psychedelia and Greek music in affordable prices (most cost €7-15) and many rare items (naturally above €20). 

The next alley is home to another historic record shop, now called Rockarolla but known for almost 25 years with the name of its founder, a memorable Monastiraki figure often sporting a cowboy hat, called Vangelis "o Tzambas" (The Cheap), who also started as a Sunday street seller. The current owner is, I believe, his nephew and he's also been in the business forever. His, already reasonably priced, items are currently on -20% discount (temporarily for a couple of years now). Starting prices for LP's are usually €9-22 and CD's €7-12. Here you'll find a lot of Classic Rock, Metal, Blues, Punk and Alternative, as well as CD (probably bootleg) reissues of ultra rare psych and prog. At Normanou Street, one of Ifaistou's small side streets, there's Crossroads, a small but packed record store selling new (€6-15) and used (€3-8) CD's and LP's (€1-25). Big variety in CD's, smaller in vinyl. Prices, even on new items, are usually below what you'd get in most bigger stores. At the end of Ifaistou there's a basement with cheap DVD's and Greek CD's ("Music Factory") and, of course, you can find records at the used book stores and antique shops strewn all over the neighborhood as well as the street sellers at the Sunday market (though not on the familiar alley where it all began). Don't expect much there, though. Buried in Agia Eleousis, one of the narrow streets in the labyrinthine Psyrri neighborhood, is to diskadiko (literally "The Record Shop"). You'll find it behind the Athinas str. exit of the Monastiraki station. Here you'll find mostly vinyl and a few CD's. Most CD's and many used LP's are on offer for €5, while most LP's cost €7-15. Rare items and new reissues cost above €20. 

Public at Syntagma Square

Lastly, although not on Monastiraki and not a record shop per se, one has to mention the multi-storied Public building on Syntagma Square (One of the two central squares of Athens, housing the Parliament/former Palace). It's a few minutes' walk from Monastiraki via the Ermou central shopping street, or just one station further on the metro blue line and forms part of a big chain built on the model of the French FNAC, offering tech stuff, books, CD's and DVD's. Prices are more or less average i.e. CD's mostly between €9-17, LP's €20+. The story of the Public chain is a typical modern Greek one: It was founded by Panos Germanos, a highly successful businessman who started with a battery shop to become a giant of the mobile telephone market. He opened Public after selling his mobile retail company for a staggering €1,6 billion to the state-owned telephony OTE/Cosmote which, as dictated by neo-liberal dogma, was immediately privatized (actually sold to another partly state-owned company, Germany's Deutsche Telecom) at a huge loss for the Greek State. The Cosmote/Germanos deal is one of many examples of the kind of mismanagement that brought Greece to the brink of bankruptcy. It was investigated for possible criminal implications but the question remains open on whether it was the result of bribery or extreme stupidity. Just another case of German companies making billions of their dealings with the Greek government, either by buying state assets in cut-rate prices or by selling overpriced and ultimately useless equipment, tanks or submarines. Mr. Germanos by the way is once again under investigation, this time for brokering a suspicious deal between the Ministry of Defence and Russian weapons companies. All of which, I realize, have nothing to do with our subject but is instructive nevertheless.
I'll return to Athens record shops in a future post discussing the relevant stores in the Exarchia and Omonoia area. Just take note that this info is current as of March 2016. Stores tend to open and close, prices are going up and down etc. Many of the record shops suggested online by other bloggers, magazines etc. are not mentioned here simply because they don't exist anymore - though I do not discount the possibility I've missed some myself...

Imantas Records, Psyrri

UPDATE 2019/2020: 
A shop that must have already been around in '16, but I missed during my then tour, is Imantas Records (Sarri 46, between Monastiraki & Psyrri area). One can find new and used records,CD's and DVD's. All kinds but, crucially, their own releases as Imantas also works as an independent record label. Also between Psirri and Monastiraki (Protogenous 13, very close to the Monastiraki station) you can find a new record store called Syd, a good choice for alternative rock and psychedelia (90% vinyl, new €20-30/used €5-15). Another option in the neighborhood is Mousikos Ianos. Ianos is a Greek bookstore chain, but the ground floor of their large shop at Aiolou (pedestrian street near Monastiraki) has recently been repurposed as a record store (60/40 vinyl/CD ratio). Big space, and variety in rock, soul, jazz & Greek music. New LPs €20+ CDs mostly €10-17. There are also 2nd hand LPs €9,99-18,99 and Japanese imports around €30.