Heartland Records – Peel St Melbourne
December 30, 2007Heartland Records are another place so underground they don’t even bother with advertising or websites. Plebians one might say. I think their theory is that they don’t really need to. All the more reason to give them a jolly good write up here. As far as music goes, they’re the most thoroughly gothic and industrial shop in Melbourne, hands down. (any challenges welcome as comments to this article).
Heartland’s main music genres are Indie/Indie dance/Soundtracks/Metal/Gothic/Industrial. They do new and second hand vinyl and CDs. they also do a small market in collectibles and tshirts, plus badges and the occasional gig tickets.
Not only is Heartland one of the best places to look for new indie releases on vinyl plus classics from artists like Pulp, Suede, New Order, Radiohead, Depeche Mode, Nirvana, Placebo and many more, it’s a gold mine of independent 7″ singles new and old . Having tried desperately hard to find recent UK 7″ singles from bands like The Horrors or Arcade Fire, or even Jarvis or Morrissey, the Good the Bad and the Queen – I found them at Heartland! While there are plenty of great indie record stores in Melbourne – this is the only place I found with many new UK titles on the shelf on 7″.
The best things about Heartland:
1. as above, the indie 7″ collection is without peer in Melbourne – Missing Link do a good US and Australian selection but for UK Heartland is King.
2. an amazing array of second hand collectible gothic and industrial vinyl, plus a great selection of new stuff on CD. Not as experimental a selection as Peril, but definitely great for goth/popular industrial/metal.
3. The downside – well, my biggest gripe is that they do absolutely no advertising so it’s difficult to know when new shipments are in… I guess you just have to ring or drop by. There is a tiny lack-of-convenience factor as well, but whinging about having to pay the Queen Vic Markets a visit or Flagstaff Gardens is churlish. It’s just not easy when you’re in a hurry running around town.
Heartland Records:
61 Peel St West Melbourne
Contact: 03 9329 9636
WOW… yes, heartland is defiantly a place to go, this is the only place i have managed to find my ‘Bullet For My Valentine’ 7″ vinyl’s.
i love this shop so much!
cant agree more with the statement that Heartland is a mystery in terms of ‘no advertising’ not even a website/myspace anything…still.
Each trip down to Melbourne has that ‘hope it’s still there’ factor.
Nice read.
Cya yesterday
I love this store and I love that it still exists.
Let’s continue to support this great place as it is a part of Melbourne music history. Don’t let iTunes and online stores destroy music culture.
Buy from the real deal.
whenever i’m in melbourne, i definitely stop by there. i’m always surprised to find obscure stuff that i never thought i’d find here in australia. but yep, it’s there! word of mouth is enough advertising i say! silly itunes kids will just have to miss out. the thrill is in the hunt!
I was there yesterday, Found what I wanted and more, A dedicated music shop is always the go!
On my culture trips to Melbourne from the north of Tasmania, Heartland Records is my number one stop. First discovering Heartland unexpectedly years back, and standing opposite the shop looking up at that name, as a forever Sisters of Mercy fan, I knew disappointment would not be felt. Thank you for being.
Best store in Oz??? I think it just might be…
I dont want people to know about this place,then they get the lps I want!!
i’m nearly sixty years of age and went into heartland records melbourne for the first time recently, i was very surprised at the volume of new vinyl that was in stock, it took me back to my youth, when i spent many hours browsing the record shops of sydney. my purchases proved very enjoyable and i can’t wait to get back to melbourne and spend another hour or two having a good squz.