Last week I had the pleasure to visit a friend of mine Wouter Hogers, who is working in Lisbon, Portugal. Looking forward to my trip, I started doing some research into cool things to do and record stores. I found a few, checked out some reviews and made a list of stores I wanted to check out. Nothing was however to prepare me to the reality of vinyl shopping in Lisbon.

Following the revolution in 1974, which put an end to dictatorship in Portugal, thousands of people who were returning from the colonies brought back their records. As a result, records from Cape Verde, Mozambique, Guine Bissau, Angola, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Brazil found their way to Portugal.  Over the years, some of the records have found their way to the market, bringing forth a way of vinyl tourism, waves of hungry collectors coming to the capital to blow wads of cash on rare pressings.

Unfortunately (for me) these diggers opened peoples eyes to the value of their black gold, and as people began to discover discogs, prices went up which means to most record stores are pretty expensive these days. There are however lots of bargains to be found in little stores and flea markets like the Feira Da Ladra which takes place every Tuesday.

Today, these old records are playing an important role in shaping Lisbon’s growing electronic music scene. A new generation of producers are being inspired by the Brazilian and African sounds of previous generations. In bedrooms in Lisbon’s heavily isolated housing projects, a new wave of African-influenced dance music is evolving. By sampling, reworking and flipping exotic records, these new works are keeping the legacy alive.