Secondhand Record Shop Near Me in Bras Basah: HEAR Records

HEAR Records packs new and pre-owned vinyl into a small ground-floor unit at #01-18 Burlington Square, 175B Bencoolen Street, Singapore 189651, between the Bras Basah arts quarter and Rochor. It opens Monday to Saturday from 11 am to 7:30 pm and Sunday from 12 pm to 6 pm. For anyone typing secondhand record shop near me in the city centre, this is the shop where the used Japanese pressings keep turning over and a loft full of jazz waits upstairs.

HEAR Records was founded by Nick Tan in 2013, according to The Vinyl Factory, which featured the shop in its long-running World's Best Record Shops series in 2016. Even at that early stage the London-based magazine counted more than four thousand records in stock, with fresh shipments arriving every month from the United States, Europe and the rest of Asia. That restocking habit is still the shop's defining trait a decade on.

Tan told the magazine that people do not come to the store just to buy records. They meet other music fans, and everyone ends up talking about music. That remark explains the mood you find inside today. Regulars chat at the counter, staff ask what you have been listening to, and a stranger flipping the next crate will often point out a pressing you missed.

The business has also grown beyond selling records. A 2024 Honeycombers guide noted that HEAR Records is the local distributor of Music Hall turntables, so the shop is a sensible stop if you are buying your first deck along with your first stack of used LPs. In 2017 it ran a photo exhibition with Canon called Larger Than Life, profiling twelve local vinyl collectors at a Chinatown branch that has since closed. Burlington Square is now the only shop.

The second-hand stock leans heavily on Japan. A Google reviewer wrote in 2026 that there is a regular influx of new stock, mostly Japanese pressings, and another said the boss makes periodic visits to Japan to bring in quality records. Japanese pressings are prized for quiet vinyl, careful mastering and thick card sleeves, and many still carry their paper obi strip with the title printed in Japanese.

Pop and jazz make up the bulk of the used racks, according to the reviews. Expect familiar Western albums from the seventies and eighties alongside city pop, fusion and Japanese jazz reissues. Several 2026 reviewers singled out the condition of the used copies, with one describing them as almost perfect. Another left happy after finding the only copy of a Modern Talking album in the shop.

The best corner of the shop is above your head. A reviewer who calls HEAR Records one of their favourite record stores in Singapore described a fairly large jazz section upstairs in the loft. The same visitor likes to sit up there because the air-conditioning is ice cold, pull out a pile of records, look at each sleeve more closely and choose which gems to take home.

The loft is the place for a slow session with hard bop, spiritual jazz and Japanese jazz labels. Bring your list, but leave room for surprises, because the selection changes as new boxes arrive from Japan. Give the ground floor a quick pass first, then climb up when you have an hour to spare.

Allow more time than you think. One reviewer warned that part of the collection is stored and displayed randomly, so you need to spare enough time to dig for the records you want. That can frustrate visitors hunting one specific title, but it is also why crate diggers love the place. A random bin is where a rare pressing hides, ignored by the shopper who only scanned the labelled sections.

Ask before you buy a used record. A 2026 reviewer noted that staff are happy to play second-hand copies for you if you want to listen for problems, which is the best way to judge surface noise. Use the chance on anything expensive, and tell the person at the deck which track matters most to you. A quick spin of the opening minute usually tells you all you need.

Talk to the staff. Reviewers mention a staff member named Joseph who makes a point of recommending records based on your taste, and the owner earned praise from a first-time jazz buyer who asked for piano artists to start with. Name two or three albums you already love and let them build a short stack for you. It is the quickest route into a genre you have never explored.

The shop also looks after customers who travel. One regular wrote that HEAR Records kept their purchases at the shop while they flew in and out of Singapore for work, which is unusual and very handy. If you find more than you can carry before a flight, ask whether they can hold your records for a later visit. For news of the latest crates, reviewers suggest following the shop's Instagram account.

The streets around Bencoolen make a good loop after a dig. Bras Basah Complex, at 231 Bain Street, is known locally as a city of books, with secondhand bookshops, art supply stores and stationers packed onto its lower floors. Browse the used paperbacks there, then compare prices with the vinyl you just bought on Bencoolen Street.

Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple, at 178 Waterloo Street, is one of the busiest Buddhist temples in the city. The pedestrian stretch of Waterloo Street outside fills with flower sellers and fortune tellers. It is only a short walk from Burlington Square, so it fits easily between a record shop session and lunch.

Address: HEAR Records, #01-18 Burlington Square, 175B Bencoolen Street, Singapore 189651. Hours: Monday 11 am to 7:30 pm, Tuesday 11 am to 7:30 pm, Wednesday 11 am to 7:30 pm, Thursday 11 am to 7:30 pm, Friday 11 am to 7:30 pm, Saturday 11 am to 7:30 pm, Sunday 12 pm to 6 pm. Nearest MRT: Rochor and Bencoolen on the Downtown Line, both a few minutes on foot.

The shop is small, so carry a slim bag rather than a backpack when browsing the aisles. Want to pair HEAR Records with Bras Basah Complex and another record stop on the same afternoon? Ask Karpo in the Karpo APP to plan the route around the Sunday hours.