Night owls in the residential neighbourhood of Perdizes might think they were seeing an urban mirage, stumbling across this small record store, lights on and open, playing records at 2am midweek, in contrast with the surrounding silence from the neighbouring houses.

The late-hours record store was set up 22 years ago by music journalist Fábio Massari. But just as the business started to gain momentum, Massari’s career as a journalist took off, so he handed the reins over to Paulo Orlando Assad, who had just returned from a trip to London. ‘I think Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity helped bring vinyl back into fashion,’ says Assad, who keeps unorthodox hours, only closing the store when the last customer leaves. ‘We always thought the time for rock was at night.’

Throughout its two decades, the store has funded paulistano bands like Hip Monsters and Yo-Ho-Delic. A longtime gathering point for music lovers, Disconcert doubles up as a pre-gig meeting spot – and sometimes triples up as the post-gig warm-down, too.

In the store’s racks of vinyl records you’ll find everything from rock and MPB to old soul and funk. Look out for rare albums like the 1973 original Brazilian edition of the first album by band Captain Beyond (R$60), with a cover that was only released here.

• Read our round-up of the best São Paulo record shops