Quentin Tarantino calls it his favourite record store in the "universe". Elvis Costello is also a sometime visitor.
With little prompting, my ears led me to Pet Sounds, a fixture for 35 years in Stockholm's trendy district of Sodermalm. It's a music haven so loved that it's even been the subject of a book (Lennart Persson's Musik Non Stop).
Owned by the knowledgeable Stefan Jacobson, the store is crammed with vinyl (new and second-hand), CDs, books, DVDs and magazines. The shop is a popular haven for music nerds and aficionados keen to search out a rare treasure or to trawl through its staggering array of pop, rock, reggae, soul, jazz, world music and films.
Pet Sounds, like many shops in Sodermalm, is a canny mix of retro while keeping tabs with digital via its channel on YouTube and app on Sweden's streaming giant Spotify.
If you're thirsty afterwards or fancy catching a live show, the record store's sister venue, Pet Sounds Bar, is across the street.
Perhaps a measure of Sodermalm's standing on the trendsetting totem is that like New York and London it also bears a funky acronym - SoFo - the area south of Folkungagatan and north of Ringvagen. The nickname has become a Stockholm shorthand for bohemian Nordic cool.
Trendy boutiques like Grandpa with its mix of quality clothing, homewares and vintage interior pieces, and Coctail, a colourful, kitschy shop selling candles, pictures and accessories, showcase the quirky and diverse shopping found in SoFo.
Sodermalm also provided the backdrop for Stieg Larsson's best-selling Millennium crime trilogy. A two-hour guided walk highlights the book's fictional settings as well as spotlighting the neighbourhood which Larsson called home before his death in 2004.
The tour passes by the haunts of Larsson's fictional journalist Mikael Blomqvist, including the Kvarnen ("Windmill") bar and restaurant. Kvarnen was where tattooed computer hacker Lisbeth Salander spent nights with her friends from the rock band Evil Fingers. I find no sign of Salander (phew!) but enjoy a tasty lunch of Swedish meatballs with lingonberries while taking in the atmospheric beer hall with its high ceilings, wood-panelling and arched windows.
Sodermalm's current cool belies that it's a former working class area with narrow streets where old wooden cottages are wedged between 20th century stone houses. It also sits grandly on prime real estate overlooking Stockholm's harbour to showcase the best views of the Swedish capital.
I descend hilly Sodermalm where beneath the cliffs and housed on the docks of Stadsgarden, is Fotografiska - the Swedish Museum of Photography.
Housed in a long Art Nouveau building, this harbourside venue is a lovely way to spend an hour or two taking in one of its featured contemporary photo exhibitions. It's also well worth heading upstairs to the top floor bistro to graze and gaze over superb quayside views.
The day I visited was on a sunny, windswept Sunday crowded with Swedish couples enjoying a buffet lunch as cruise ships slid past and ferries weaved across the brilliantly blue harbour.
The scene was Stockholm in full autumnal splendour and in my mind I could hear Miles Davis' Dear Old Stockholm adding a soulful soundtrack to frame this nautical rhapsody. It was at this moment that I properly understood why Stockholm is called "the city that floats on water".
IF YOU GO:
GETTING THERE: Emirates operates 84 flights per week from Australia to Dubai with daily connections to Stockholm. Return economy fares to Stockholm start from $2029. For further details visit: www.emirates.com/au
STAYING THERE: The Clarion Hotel Sign is one of Stockholm's largest hotels and is centrally located right next to the Central train station. For details on room prices visit: www.clarionsign.com
PLAYING THERE: Pet Sounds record shop is located at Skanegatan 53, Sodermalm. The nearest train station is Medborgarplatsen. Details: www.petsounds.se
Pet Sounds Bar is located at Skanegatan 80, Sodermalm. Details: www.petsoundsbar.se
- Two-hour guided Millennium tours in English are conducted on Saturdays. Cost is 130 Swedish krona ($A22.06). Details: www.stadsmuseet.stockholm.se/In-English/Guided-tours/millennium
- Fotografiska is located at Stadsgrdshamnen 22. Entry is 120 Swedish krona ($A20.36) which includes all exhibitions. Details: en.fotografiska.eu
SHOPPING:
Coctail is located at Bondegatan 34, Sodermalm. Details: www.coctail.nu
Grandpa is located at Sodermannagatan 21, Details: www.grandpa.se
SoFo information and news: www.sofo-stockholm.se
DINING:
Restaurang Kvarnen is at Tjarhovsgatan 4 and can be reached by train at Medborgarplatsen station. Details: www.kvarnen.com
Nytorget 6 is a cosy bistro/bar offering rustic food in a casual atmosphere. Details: www.nytorget6.com
* The writer travelled as a guest of Stockholm Visitors Board and Emirates.
