Skip to main content

Choci's Chewns: we used to love that place, downstairs in a Soho basement and always really loud, banging mental techno on the shop sound system.

(Apr 8, 2013) Brewsta said:Underneath Heaven with about five deep on any given day at the counter. White labels came in, still warm from the press and out they went, to change the consciousness of the nation.

shop and label based in Soho in London’s West End, run by long-time dj/producer Choci (duh). The shop was located in the basement of a building in St Anne’s Court, a narrow pedestrian cut-through between Wardour Street and Dean Street in Soho.

Like all the best record stores, part of the pleasure was the anticipation – descending the stairs and hearing the music get louder and louder, knowing that soon you would get your hands on that sweet, sweet black plastic. I was a pretty regular customer for a few years at the end of the 90’s and the beginning of the 00’s, and it was consistently one of my favorite haunts for hard dance sounds, along with Kinetec near Oxford Circus, Basement Vinyl in Kilburn and Elite in Victoria. Their stock always included the best of UK and European hard trance, acid techno and hard house, and Andreas Mishka (who was mostly working there when I was going) was always friendly and frequently hooked me up with promos, which was no bad thing!

What was the sound of Choci’s Chewns? Well, Choci’s labels specialized in exactly the tunes featured on this mix – hard, energetic trance, filled with memorable riffs, rhythms to bounce to, and enough acid lines to strangle a python. Whether in a dirty warehouse in the depths of pre-hipster Hackney or in big races at places like Brixton Academy or The Astoria, these tunes always rocked the spot like no other.


Comments

DJ7 (Matt)
22 Jan 2025 at 11:29
I was a regular visitor here in the mid 90s. My absolute favourite 'go to' store. At that time I had a brief residency mid-week at the 414 Club on Coldharbour Lane (great little place run by top bloke Tony). Was on a few mailing lists at the time with the likes of Havoc and Stay Up Forever (and played a couple of parties with the Liberator guys). Played a few other regular nights in London around the time at EC1 and the Powerhaus etc. as well as nights like 'Normal' at York Arts Centre with the likes of Colin Favor (RIP) and Gayle San...very happy days. No longer playing out but still got my collection (including stacks of great stuff from Choci's) and my 1210s...

Details

Location

Choci's Chewns Soho / London

Next in London: Chris Ellis Record Shop
Prev in London: Chiswick Music Salon