The SoundMachine

An independent record shop trading from Harris Arcade, the covered Victorian walkway beside Reading station, since 1990. It deals in new and second-hand vinyl and CDs across a wide span of genres, and is the town's longest-running specialist collectors' shop of its kind. Stock turns over through buying and selling with the public, so the racks reward repeat visits, and the shop is a fixture of Reading's record-fair and vinyl-weekend calendar. The premises are compact and densely filled, with staff who will dig out specific pressings and value collections brought in for sale. It sits among the arcade's other independent traders, a minute from the station concourse. Opening is Monday to Saturday, and the shop takes part in Record Store Day and periodic vintage-vinyl events staged within the arcade itself.