One thing is for sure: it’s difficult to keep up with advances in technology these days. Typewriters have given way to desktop computers (and then laptops), landlines to cell phones (and then smart phones), videocassettes to DVDs...even the lowly book is being threatened with obsolescence by the advent of electronic readers like Kindle and Nook.

No technology becomes obsolete faster than recorded music. Those who have invested a lot of time and money buying audio cassettes (or even CDs) over the past few decades must come to terms with the fact that .mp3 files are now the reigning champion of the music technology world.

Nonetheless, just because a technology is more convenient or more pervasive doesn’t mean it’s superior to its predecessors in every respect. LP purists insist that the sound quality of a 33 or 45 RPM record is richer and warmer than the equalized, homogenized sound of a CD or .mp3. With any luck, LP records, LP fans, and LP stores will be around for the foreseeable future. Where is an Istanbulite to find a good collection of LPs?

Lale Plak (Lale Records) is a good place to start. The store is located in Tünel Square, at the very top of Galip Dede Caddesi, a street sloping down from Tünel to Galata that is known for its music shops. Hakan Atala, the owner of Lale Plak (which has existed for over 50 years), keeps an extensive stock of records in his store including iconic 70s Turkish singers such as Barış Manço or Ajda Pekkan, as well as (Western) classical music, and world music. The records at Lale Plak are all new, not second hand, and signed jazz records are available for purchase.

Those who are out to buy second-hand records, on the other hand, might want to head to Aslıhan Pasajı in Galatasaray in order to visit Mandala Müzik Evi. The passageway, which is also a great place to hunt for second-hand books, will be familiar to fans of the movie Issız Adam as the place where the main character, Alper, first meets his love interest Ada. (She is looking for a second-hand novel, he for a collector’s item LP.) With Mandala’s extensive collection there is a good chance that you, too, will find what you are looking for (musically speaking, that is.) Mandala’s stock, divided more or less equally between 33 and 45 RPM, focuses on 1970s music, both Turkish and foreign. 

The Asian side’s answer to Aslıhan Pasajı is of course Akmar Pasajı in downtown Kadıköy, long known to students as a place to buy course books and English-language readers. Zihni Müzik is located on the basement level of the passageway. The store has one of the biggest collections of LPs in Istanbul with around nine thousand records in stock, of which nearly three quarters are second-hand. (Most of the records are 33 RPM, although a considerable stock of 45s is also available.) An updated list of their LPs for sale is available on their website, so before you hop on a ferry to the other side you can check if they have the titles you want. Whatever you do, don’t call them up to ask for the number of a bookseller in Akmar Pasajı – that’s apparently the quickest way to get on their nerves.

Also on the Asian side, in the upscale Moda district, is Vintage Records. The store, barely five years old, has a vast collection of second-hand LPs, and is particularly strong on Turkish pop/rock of the 60s and 70s as well as English-language classic rock. You can also find various kinds of musical equipment (amps, speakers, etc.) for sale here.

Our last stop takes us back to the European side, to Opus 3A in Cihangir. The smallest and newest store on this list (founded last year), Opus 3A’s stock is also new rather than second-hand. Its collection focuses on jazz, as well as legendary Turkish 70s pop icons such as Barış Manço or Ajda Pekkan, with some rock and classical music as well. Most of Opus 3A’s records are 33 RPM. Another record store in Cihangir is Deform Müzik owned by Ozan Maral and Tayfun Aras who are also known as the DJ duo Deform-E. The store's second hand stock is a mixture of all kinds of genres including 50s and 60s soul and funk or rock as well as Turkish and international records.

After visiting all these stores, if you still haven’t found the song or album you want, you can always give up and download it from the Internet...

Updated on 9 March, 2012