Since 1998, Toronto’s Cosmos Records has been synonymous with world-class vintage vinyl, offering the finest in in-demand soul, funk, disco, jazz, Latin and Brazilian titles. Soft-spoken co-owner Aki Abe is one of the foremost authorities on this amalgamation of genres often referred to as “rare groove” – something of an unexpected career development given his early professional roots in accounting. When crunching numbers proved too mind-numbing an occupation, Aki pursued his passion for music – DJing on Toronto’s underground warehouse party scene in the late '80s and fervently digging for vinyl gems on US road trips. Cosmos began as a modest Queen West storefront with a few crates that sold out within a week. Now the business can claim two locations in the T.Dot, a sister locale in London and one of the most sophisticated buying operations of its kind (not to mention an Instagram account of exemplary and informative “record porn”).
