Secondhand Record Shop in Kampong Glam: Curated Records

Curated Records sits one flight up at 766A North Bridge Road, Singapore 198734, in a shophouse whose ground floor is a 7-Eleven, a few doors from the Before Sultan Mosque bus stop in Kampong Glam. Google lists it as open Tuesday to Sunday from 12 pm to 8 pm and closed on Monday. If your phone has just answered secondhand record shop near me somewhere around Bugis, this is the upstairs room where used crates share wall space with fresh pressings, and where the person behind the counter usually started the shop.

Tremon Lim spent six years working in publishing before he quit to open a record store. Vulcan Post, profiling the shop in July 2026, records that he launched Curated Records in a small Tiong Bahru space in 2014 and moved it to the present North Bridge Road premises in 2021. Older guides still print the Tiong Bahru Road address, so ignore any map pin that sends you south of the river. The current shop spans two storeys and carries more than 2,000 records.

Lim, who was 42 when that interview ran, describes vinyl as a mature niche rather than a passing revival, and he calls Singapore one of the vinyl-hunting stop-bys for travellers. That outlook shows on the shelves. He has kept the inventory deliberately mixed since the Tiong Bahru days, when Bandwagon noted his equal love for radio pop and extreme metal and listed synth-pop, hip-hop, thrash, drone and punk side by side in one small room.

The entrance is the easiest thing to miss in this article. TheSmartLocal warns that the shop is tucked away on the second floor of a shophouse beside a 7-Eleven, and one regular who wrote about it on Lemon8 said it sits between the convenience store and a spa, with only a small logo marking the stairs. Look for the logo rather than a street-level window display, because there is none. Then climb the steps.

Bugis MRT station is roughly 600 metres away, a straight walk north along North Bridge Road past the Arab Street junction. Buses stopping at Before Sultan Mosque leave you almost at the stairwell. Arriving after dark is fine, since the convenience store below stays lit, but bring patience on the stairs if you plan to carry a stack of LPs back down in the rain.

Be clear on the balance before you go. Curated Records sells new and used vinyl together, which TheSmartLocal and Lead You Elsewhere both describe as a mix running from contemporary indie rock to 80s funk, soul and vintage rarities. Wanderlog's summary of Google reviews leans harder on new and reissued titles. Collectors who want only dusty originals at bargain prices will do better at a warehouse-style dig, while anyone who wants a pre-owned soul LP and a new pressing in one bag is in the right room.

The genre spread is wide for a space this size. Zula singled out pop albums, indie rock, deeper cuts and film soundtracks, plus modern classics from Björk, Radiohead and MF Doom. Bandwagon's older write-up adds that obscure titles from small overseas labels sit right beside the chart pop, and Time Out mentions anime soundtracks in the mix.

One honest judgment from the reviews is about cost rather than quality. Expat Choice wrote that prices may seem ludicrously high, and the Lemon8 regular called them slightly above retail for limited pressings. If a sealed anniversary edition is the only thing on your list, compare it online first. The used bins and the hip-hop shelves are where this shop earns the stairs.

New arrivals go up on Instagram at @curatedrecords and on the shop's Facebook page, and that is where serious buyers watch. The Lemon8 writer saw a limited pressing on an Instagram Story, sent a direct message and had a copy held without paying a deposit. That kind of informal hold is the closest thing to a queue here, so message early on the day a release lands rather than turning up at closing time and hoping.

Lim's own read on limited editions explains the rush. He told Vulcan Post that coloured, transparent and artist-exclusive pressings are produced in small runs, which is why they vanish quickly. Weekday afternoons soon after the 12 pm opening are the calmest time to browse the used shelves properly. Weekend afternoons draw the crowd that Vulcan Post described flipping through crates around Haji Lane, only a few streets away.

Part of the upstairs room is given over to a corner with comfortable sofas and a full audio setup, according to the Lemon8 post, so you can hear what a record really sounds like before you buy it. Ask before you put anything on the platter, keep sleeves upright in the bins, and return a used LP to the slot you took it from. In a room this compact, a misplaced record is effectively gone for the next digger.

The people who linger tend to fall into a few types. There are travellers checking Singapore off a vinyl itinerary, the phrase Lim himself used. Hip-hop fans head for the rap section, and pop buyers like the Lemon8 regular come for one anniversary pressing and stay on the sofa. Reviewers on Wanderlog keep describing Tremon as approachable and knowledgeable across genres, and he takes special orders for unusual requests.

Step back onto North Bridge Road and the golden dome of Sultan Mosque, at 3 Muscat Street, is visible almost at once. Dress modestly if you plan to go in, and avoid prayer times. From there, Arab Street runs east with textile shops and carpet dealers, and Haji Lane's narrow strip of murals and small boutiques is two short blocks south.

If the crates leave you wanting harder music, Surface Noise is a short walk away inside the Textile Centre at 200 Jalan Sultan, #04-16, and specialises in punk, hardcore and emo. Pairing the two makes a sensible afternoon. You get Curated Records for breadth and hip-hop, then the Textile Centre for the louder end of the spectrum, all without boarding a train.

Address: 766A North Bridge Road, Singapore 198734, on level 2 above the 7-Eleven. Hours on Google: Tuesday 12 pm to 8 pm, Wednesday 12 pm to 8 pm, Thursday 12 pm to 8 pm, Friday 12 pm to 8 pm, Saturday 12 pm to 8 pm, Sunday 12 pm to 8 pm, closed Monday. Contact is by email at hello@curatedrecords.com or by direct message on Instagram. The old website address now forwards to Facebook.

Transport: Bugis MRT on the East-West and Downtown lines, or any bus to the Before Sultan Mosque stop. Access is by stairs only, so this is a hard visit with a pram or wheelchair. Bring a sturdy tote for LPs, follow @curatedrecords for arrivals, and plan Monday visits around Surface Noise and the mosque instead. For more Bugis afternoons, ask Karpo in the Karpo APP.