Hongdae. Named after the owner's cat. 5,000 records, and no two like the shop next door.

Shop: 김밥레코즈
Address: Mapo-gu, Hongdae
Town: Seoul, South Korea
Formats: Vinyl, CDs, 7"
Crates: Indie, Pop, Rock, Jazz, Soul, Electronic, World
In the shop: Mail order, In-store gigs

Young Hyuk Kim, who everyone calls John, worked at BMG Korea and then Sony Music Korea before starting Gimbab as a label and promotions company; the shop came later, when he needed somewhere to base it. It is named after his cat, which is named after the rice roll. Around 5,000 records, 90 per cent of them new, deliberately built as a selection he could not find anywhere else in Seoul - indie pop and rock alongside jazz, soul, Brazilian, French and electronic. Only a limited run of Korean originals, which says something true about how late vinyl came back here. Two floors up, past a perfume shop, in a black building. No founding year is published anywhere we could verify