Where Southeast Asia's DJs Actually Buy House and Techno Vinyl

Search "best record store Bangkok" and you land on Zudrangma Records, a genuinely great shop that deals in molam and luk thung, Thai country and world music, not house. Search Singapore and half the lists still point to White Label Records, which closed its Ann Siang Road doors in 2020. The listicles are built for crate-diggers chasing funk breaks and Britpop pressings. A DJ landing in the region hunting house and techno wax needs a different map.

That map is short, because the shops are genuinely rare. Southeast Asia's dance music culture runs mostly on digital sets and USB sticks, so a store that stakes real shelf space on house, techno and leftfield electronic vinyl is doing something deliberate. Here are the ones worth the detour, plus the honest gaps.

Bangkok: Format BKK, With Burngkumhouse for the Deeper Dig

Format BKK is the closer bet for electronic specifically. It sits in a converted house on Charoen Phon 1 Alley in Ari, open daily 10:30am to 9pm, and grew directly out of Gadhouse, the Thai turntable label that's built a genuine following outside the country. The shelves mix off-mainstream Thai and international releases with secondhand finds from the '60s through the '90s, prices are kept fair on purpose, and the store runs monthly "Demo to Master" workshops where artists talk through their own productions.

For the deeper dig, Burngkumhouse Records, pictured above, is worth the walk up to the fourth floor of the Black Amber building between Thonglor Soi 5 and 7, open Wednesday to Sunday, 1pm to 9pm. Be honest about what it is: the bins run '90s Britpop, indie, alternative rock, soul and funk, with an electronica corner rather than a house and techno wall. It's the kind of shop where you lose half an hour arguing pressing quality with a stranger, which is exactly the point.

Singapore: The Analog Vault

The Analog Vault, tucked into Esplanade Mall at 8 Raffles Avenue, is open daily 1pm to 9pm and stocks electronic alongside jazz, hip-hop, soul and world music, in mono and stereo pressings, box sets and limited editions. It survived the wave of Singapore record-bar closures that took White Label Records down in 2020, and it runs a working online store on top of the physical shop, so a specific pressing can often be tracked down even when the shelf copy is gone.

Indonesia: Peels Records & Bar Covers Bandung and Bali

Indonesia's clearest answer sits three hours outside Jakarta, in Bandung, where Peels Records & Bar opened in 2021 inside a restored Dutch colonial building: part record shop, part sound room, part cocktail bar, with a vinyl wall behind the bottles and no published price list. It got a full refit this year. Book ahead through WhatsApp, because showing up unannounced is the one house rule the owner actually enforces. Peels opened a second location in Pantai Pererenan, Bali, back in 2022, trading the colonial shell for a beach-town crowd.

Jakarta itself skews toward pop-ups rather than a fixed shop. Vacation Records, the house and disco collective behind DJs Angga, Skoon, ØH, Ray and Zizlavsky since 2022, sells mostly through its own showcases and the occasional vinyl market rather than a storefront with regular hours, so treat it as an event to catch rather than an address to visit.

Manila: Treskul Records & Cafe

Treskul Records & Cafe is run by DJ Arbie Won, who personally curates the crates himself. The shop has two locations, the CIFRA Building on Boni Avenue in Mandaluyong and a newer branch inside Ali Mall in Cubao, and it leans generalist: crates run from soul and funk classics to Japanese anime soundtracks, with vintage Walkmans and Discmans alongside the records and a cafe menu of tapsilog and nachos to go with the digging. It's not a house and techno specialist shop, and Manila still doesn't have one worth naming here.

Ho Chi Minh City: MERAKI

MERAKI opened in Saigon on July 11, 2025, co-founded by Nic Desnuages, a working DJ himself. The vinyl runs electro, techno, house, ambient, jazz, disco and leftfield, shelved next to limited-edition streetwear and a rotating visual art exhibition, with a cafe corner and a terrace that serves beer. Of every shop on this list, it states its genre focus most plainly: the opening night lineup was Desnuages, Dotadeo, MLiR and Mr. Eko, all playing live on the terrace.

What's Not on This List

Kuala Lumpur is the obvious gap for a capital of its size. The city has real record shops, among them Sputnik Rekordz and Tandang Records Store, but every one turned up in this search skews indie, Asian oldies or straight punk and DIY; none stakes out house and techno specifically. KL's actual house and techno crowd gathers at parties like Sweatbox rather than at a shop counter, which says more about where the scene puts its energy than it does about the city's taste. If a dedicated electronic vinyl shop opens there, this guide will add it.

FAQ

Which Southeast Asian city has the most dedicated house and techno record store?

Ho Chi Minh City's MERAKI states its genre focus most explicitly, with vinyl spanning electro, techno, house, ambient, disco and leftfield specifically, alongside streetwear and art.

Is there a house and techno record shop in Kuala Lumpur?

Not based on this research. KL's record shops lean indie, Asian reissues or punk and DIY, and its house and techno crowd gathers at parties like Sweatbox rather than at a dedicated shop.

Can I find house and techno vinyl in Jakarta?

Not at a fixed storefront. Jakarta's house and disco collective Vacation Records sells mostly through its own showcases and pop-up vinyl markets rather than regular shop hours; the nearest proper record shop and bar is Peels Records & Bar, three hours away in Bandung.

Does Singapore still have a dedicated vinyl bar for electronic music?

White Label Records, the city's best-known vinyl bar, closed in 2020. The Analog Vault at Esplanade Mall stocks electronic pressings alongside jazz, hip-hop and soul and remains open daily.

Is Bangkok's Zudrangma Records good for house and techno?

No. Zudrangma is Bangkok's most famous record shop but specializes in molam, luk thung and world music. Format BKK, built on Gadhouse's turntable-label DNA, is the closer option for electronic specifically.

Cover photo: Burngkumhouse Records, Bangkok, via Time Out Bangkok.