Rough Trade East

Rough Trade, in many ways, are the best of the best. Rough Trade East has a great vinyl selection, are always playing some great new cuts on the stereo and the coffee shop serves good drinks at reasonable prices. It’s just the staff I’m not sure about… They are undoubtedly knowledgable but can come across as rude and disinterested sometimes.

I love this shop. For the bands they promote, the laid back atmosphere and the events they organize. However, I went there yesterday as the venue was on the Photo Month trail, supposedly holding one of the photo exhibitions. I entered the shop, I asked the guy behind the counter where I can find it. He had no clue, he called his mate, he didn’t have a clue either, but he offered to find out. I lost him in the crowd of customers, but I was expecting him to be back soon with the information. 5 minutes have past and I’ve noticed that actually the photos I was about to see hang along the alley high above our heads (and he had no idea!). So I thought I’m gonna find him and tell him I found what I was looking for, when I spotted him at the end of the shop he was.. behind another counter serving customers! How rude…

not as good as it should be. staff is rude and no real help can be find from them.

Fantastic Vinyl store…….got so many classic records from here from The Clash to Babyshambles to Stone Roses, great location some of the books are worth reading in there too. The only downfall is the price, can be abit expensive but worth the trip for anyone who deosnt live in East already and great if you love vinyl, music and proper record shop.

This place is such a Mecca for music fans - massive recommendation

Always stock some really awesome records and books, even if some of them are a bit over priced. The photo booth is always a good laugh as well.

i like this place

Sigh. This place is a music lover's dream shop. The staff are all the balding krautrock dudes of legend (mispronounce !!! at your peril) but they know their stuff, and whether I'm after a particular record or want to try something new, they are helpful and genuinely love the shop.

Not only that, but there's a nice little coffee place (it's a good landmark spot to meet people) and in-store gigs - anything from alt country legend Jim White to Blur.

In fact, I love Rough Trade so much I think they should give me a loyalty card. Like at Costa.

The staff in here really know their stuff and couldn't be more helpful, tha cafe at the front's great for people watching while hearing new music and the listening posts are a great touch if you're not sure about something

Really cool. Lots of vinyls, occassional gigs at the back, knowledged staff, great coffee now that they have changed it all round. I love the area as not only do the staff know their stuff but even the customers seem to be helpful. I mistakenly started asking a fellow customer questions and it was only about 10 minutes later did I realise that he wasnt part of the crew. It seemed that he was a very big regular fan and why not. Open 7 days a week in this very cool walking street just off Brick Lane. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Nice shop with horrible rude staff especially the kiwi girl.

A place for Music for music lover.
If you are looking to buy a very particular reference of music, you will find it there... or you can just come to listen and discover highly qualified music!
You can do all this by drinking a mocha served at the entrance. There is also music and art book that you all want to buy!!
RoughTrade compilation are always very interesting.
Good stop when you are passing by Bricklane or get out the BigChill or Café 1001 and also to get info about next weekend good parties

With instores from the likes of Blur, Radiohead(who got moved across the way to 93 Feet East), Daniel Johnstone, Yo La Tengo, Richard Hawley, etc etc etc This musical mainstay is more than a record shop.

You can browse through the reams of CDs and vinyl, have a coffee, surf the web, admire the photos adorning the walls, leaf through some out-there publications and then expect some fabulous performances on their little stage.

I work too far away now to really stand a chance of getting in anymore for the popular gigs :( but maybe weekends are my chance...

If you love your music and wish there were a place to lose yourself in for a few hours, finding out new treasures... this is it. It's great for coffees, mags and, foremost, MUSIC. The in-store artists that play are by far the best. It really is a shop championing new music, as well as interesting music. Sign up to their mailing list to make sure you don't miss out on anything that they do. Here's the link http://www.roughtrade.com/

A place where music is taken very seriously indeed.

Has a large range of stock, friendly and knowledgable staff and lots of listening posts.

A great shop from a great lable!

Rough Trade East makes you feel like you are in Nick Hornby’s “High Fidelity”. It is the aficionado’s haunt and music is taken very seriously here. Not many places like this around anymore cos they are either competing with the megastores or the internet, so it is great to be in the company of people who appreciate and celebrate unique, underground merchandise. The instore music is loud, almost to club level (so much so the help require earplugs to preserve their delicate receptors) and when I went there was even a cool folk/indi gig playing right there in the shop. Cute photobooth allows you to take a “band pic” of you and your mates posing and pouting for your imaginary album cover.

The quintessential record store and the music destination that should be mandatory in every city. Bigger than its Notting Hill sister store, with the capacity for a bigger selection, more vinyl, more books, and of course, a live space that brings in some of the most important indie bands playing today. But for its glossier finish, it’s still very much a Rough Trade shop: no pressure when you’re browsing, and an enthusiastic staff who will chat with you about records (really, how can a record store employ anyone who won’t chat with you about records? This shouldn’t be as special as it is). An absolute must visit for any music fan.

The retail music industry ain’t dead just yet!

No amount of online sophistication can replace the personal touch, especially in a store like this brimming with staff who know and love their tunes. Their recommendations are most helpful, would you dine at a restaurant where the staff don’t eat?

No slick, comprehensive back catalogue of MP3s can ever, ever be a substitute for that human touch, particularly the sharing of musical love. Today, as a friendly chap led me to the Reggae section we indulged in a smug, almost elitist, appreciation of early 80s dub.

Complete with the ubiquitous 21st century coffee bar and internet surfing, Rough Trade East bring back the joys or lazy, relaxed browsing and the days when record shops were THE place to hang out.

Rough trade opened just over a year ago just off Brick Lane, compared to most record shops this place is huge. It give you plenty of space to take your time having a good look around which takes a while due to the ever increasing amount of stock. The main difference from other record shops is the other uses this place has, there’s a nice little cafe at the front of the store selling drinks and snacks and there’s internet access at the back. They also hold regular in store gigs who perform on a small stage at the back of the store.

Record shop just off Brick Lane and round the corner from Spitalfields market.

Less crampt than the original Rough trade record shop on Portobello Road, but with the same varied and offbeat selection. The cafe and sofa area make this a good place to browse and find your new favourite bands before they sell out and become mainstream or disappear into obscurity.

Check out their webpage for their excellent and frequent instore gigs. Also a good place to pick up gig tickets and avoid the extortional ticketmaster fees!