In an age when virtually any song can be summoned instantly from a phone, Buenos Aires continues to preserve a more tactile way of discovering music: browsing the shelves of a record store.

The city’s long tradition of disquerías goes well beyond selling records. They are also hangouts for musicians, curious listeners and collectors, where a new generation of audiophiles is introduced to emerging artists, cult heroes, and pioneers.

Many of these stores have remained at the heart of the city’s cultural life for many decades, surviving the rise of CDs, and the arrival of large retail chains. Others have opened during the last decade all around the city.

Most places specialize in rock, but there are also extensive jazz and world-music catalogs, plus classical music, Argentine folklore, and tango. They usually carry deluxe 180-gram reissues as well as used records in unsorted bins that include rare hard-to-find editions, first pressings and albums that are no longer in print, making each visit a treasure hunt as well as a shopping trip.

The culture extends beyond traditional shops. The used-record stands at Parque Rivadavia and Parque Centenario have long attracted collectors, while San Telmo’s antique market........

© Buenos Aires Herald