NetNews Usenet Archive 1993 #3/NN_1993_3.iso/spool/rec/audio/19455

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Newsgroups: rec.audio
Path: sparky!uunet!news!wrs.com!malcolm
From: [e-mail] (Malcolm Humes)
Subject: Re: Mailorder music sources &  rec.audio FAQ (part 3)
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Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 22:25:45 GMT
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I recently posted something to another group, rec.music.misc, about a
mailorder music source list I was compiling in response to some mailorder
questions. Someone apparantly posted something with my address here, saying
I was compiling such a list. That's sort of correct, and I'll post what
I have so folks stop emailing me for it.

Well, the major detail that may have been overlooked is that I said I
was compiling a list of PROGRESSIVE ROCK and EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC sources
and that I was considering expanding that to a larger more inclusive list.
The progressive rock focused list is complete, the other may never be
tackled - as is there are already 3 other folks who have compiled and/or
maintained similar broad scope mailorder lists. One was "abandoned" last May
when the editor couldn't find a volunteer to carry the flame...  that one
should be archived somewhere at teh musical ftp archives at ftp.uwp.edu.
Another list is being complied by a woman who plans to post it to
rec.music.misc and let other folks worry about updating it. And yet another
list is maintained by [e-mail], I think for a mailing list
called INFOCD. Both of the last two lists look to be highly derivative
of the one at the ftp archives, and offhand I can tell some of the info on
the INFOCD list is not up to date (old addresses, etc). Hopefully someone
will pull together a comprehensive list that can be shared by all these
newsgroups - right now I'm too busy and I've seen firsthand how much work
it takes, so you'll have to settle for the list I have or those other folks
have done or get motivated to take on the project yourself.

I'll post my progressive sources list below, but I have some general comments
on the mailorder section of the rec.audio FAQ:
>rec.audio FAQ (part 3 of 3)

>|15.6 Are there any good mail-order sources for recordings?
>|      Noteworthy has a good reputation among net readers as a supplier of
>|      CDs.  They have a range of discs available centered firmly on the
>|      mainstream, and are reasonable in price.
>|
>|      BMG and Columbia also sell CDs mail-order, but have a smaller list of
>|      offerings and higher prices.  However, BMG and Columbia have
>|      interesting deals to entice new customers.  Read the fine print before
>|      you sign up to be sure that they are right for you.
>|
>|      Bose also sells CDs, although as yet, we haven't heard positive or
>|      negative reviews of their service, selection, or prices.
>|
>|      When considering mail purchases of CDs, consider shipping costs.
>|      It is common for people to charge between $1 and $3 per disk for
>|      "shipping and handling".  This makes mail order less attractive,
>|      but may be equally balanced by a lack of sales tax.

Noteworthy has decent pricing and selection but carries no imports and
prefers VISA or credit card only, though I think they may accept check
payments up front.

BMG and Columbia both offer fairly limited and mainstream selections at
pretty high prices but the offer lots of sales and intro deals that can
bring the cost per disc down considerably. If you just do the intro
BUY 8 for the PRICE OF 1/2 deal and then quit you end up paying maybe $4
per discs or so - they stick you for postaghe and handling on free discs.
Columbia has different offers - lately they started matching BMG's deal
as mentioned above, but they also simultaneously run ads for their BUY
8 for 1 cent, 6 more at full price deal, which locks you in longer and
makes you pay maybe $7 per disc to fulfill your membership requirements.
Over the deals are good if you shop smart on the freebies and sales, but
you pay more per disc if you buy at full price from them. Look for ads in
your sunday newspaper and magazines.

Bose is reputed to have pretty high prices, the highest of all the ones
mentioned here. Regarding Sales taxes - rules and interpretations vary, but
in general if the mailorder company does business in the state you live in
they charge you taxes even if they ship from another state. "Does business..."
is vague, I'm not sure what that means, but basically I think it means
that BMG charges me taxes in California even though they are out of state.

Here's the list I put together:

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

revision .093 12/15/92
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
A LIST OF MAILORDER SOURCES OF PROGRESSIVE MUSIC
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Independent distribution is virtually dead. ... Most American stores get
 nearly all their wares from six suppliers. "
(CBS, Warner, BMG, Capitol-EMI, Polygram, and MCA.)
 - from _Hit Men_ by Frederic Dannen, Vintage Books 1991 (ISBN 0-679-73061-3)

Despite the majors labels dominating the music industry and
distribution, artists are still releasing their own product and
some small labels are dedicated to releasing new music and
re-issuing old releases once considered rare, out of print and
nearly lost forever. And small distributors are still around
filling a need, helping us find those releases that nobody else
seems to carry.

For the purposes of this list "Progressive Music" is intentionally vague.
It is used in a broad sense to include progressive rock, symphonic rock,
jazz/rock fusion, Recommended records, Zeuhl music, and to some extent
electronic, improvised and 20th century classical music. Even in large
metropolitan areas in this age it's very difficult to find a retail music
store that stocks a large a huge variety of progressive music. The same is
essentially true of mailorder vendors also - it's too difficult and expensive
for a small business to maintain a large inventory on hand. Both retail and
mailorder vendors tend to have special areas of interest, typically heavily
influenced by the interests of the employee(s) ordering the stock.  With
many small one-man businesses in music mailorder the focus of musical interest
is often somewhat narrow and consequently it's hard to find any one mailorder
source for everything if your musical tastes are diverse. This listing of
sources tries to address that by listing comments from customers of the
various vendors to help us get a better idea of what they stock and what the
pluses and minuses are of each. If you are serious about tracking down hard
to find music you'll end up having to turn to a variety of resources to find
what you want. This list is oriented to that perspective, with no intent
meant to imply that any one vendor is better than another.

Many of the vendors are small operations running out of people's homes
or on a shoestring budget. Please be considerate when calling numbers with
HOURS listed as the owner might not enjoy answering your calls during dinner
or while asleep. It's probably a good idea to send a SASE (Self-Addressed-
Stamped-Envelope) or an IRC (International Reply Coupon from the Post Office)
if writing overseas. It may not be necessary but I consider it a gesture of
goodwill and it can make the difference in whether you get a reply or not,
especially when you're writing overseas. Catalog costs listed here may be
inaccurate, or a catalog may have a fee associated that isn't noted here. No
guarantee is made for the accuracy of addresses, pricing or opinions listed
herein. Please help us keep this up to date by informing us of any changes or
corrections.

Many thanks are due to Peter Thelen, Andrew Torda, Phil Hildenbrand, Dave
Mandl, Craig Shipley, Jeff Hemmerling, Pierre Blackburn and anyone else who
helped out in offering information for this list. Comments are attributed to
the sources. In many cases the comments are from Peter, who appears to have
done business with just about every mailorder business around. This is a
"moderated" listing; I welcome additional comments from anyone but may have
to edit them if I feel it necessary.

I have very mixed feelings about including negative comments beyond
constructive criticism about reviews, and stocking policies, etc.
I'm not interested in this becoming a forum to gripe about late delivery or
shipments. But I do feel that it's appropriate to warn others if you've been
seriously or repeatedly screwed by anyone listed here. All opinions and
experiences included here are the opinions and responsibility only of the
author noted, and not of myself or any other parties associated with this
listing.

Current plans are to expand this and to reproduce it offline with
the Publications list (currently in progress). It's looking likely that
the next major rev or this will include another 20 or so addresses, and this
project may get expanded into a much more comprehensive listing of sources
of all sorts of music from any type of mailorder vendors.

Happy hunting, listening and exploring...

                             - Malcolm Humes  ([e-mail])

==================
INDEX OF CONTENTS:
==================

This is a large file, so an index of vendors listed here might be
useful to you - if you have find or search capabilities you may
find them handy for jumping around to the parts you're looking for.
All vendor names in the list are found in CAPITAL letters as shown
in the index.

Index of Mailorder sources in the USA:

                     ABCD
AEON MUSIC
ART CONTROL ENTERPRISES
AUDIOPHILE IMPORTS
JEFF BAKER
BARKING PUMPKIN RECORDS/ BARFKO SWILL
CALENDULA RECORDS / MT.OLYMPUS IMPORTS
CD CONNECTION BBS
CD SPECIALTIES
CLEEFO
CMP RECORDS (USA)
CORIOLIS RECORDS
DUTCH EAST INDIA TRADING
ESD - EAST SIDE DIGITAL
EUROCK MAGAZINE & DISTRIBUTION
FOT RECORDS/PASSED NORMAL COMPILATIONS
G.A.S. - GONG APPRECIATION SOCIETY
TIM HOLDEN
LABYRINTH
DOUG LARSON
THE LASER'S EDGE
NOTEWORTHY MUSIC
PROGRESSIVE INTERNATIONAL
RANJIT PADMANABHAN
ROCKAWAY RECORDS
ROUND SOUNDS
SOUND CITY 2000
SPECTRUM MUSIC VIDEO
SYN-PHONIC
TEC TONES/RALPH RECORDS/NEGATIVMAILORDERLAND
USED CD SERVER
VOICEPRINT
WAYSIDE MUSIC
ZNR RECORDS

Index of Mailorder places located outside the USA:

BEASTONE RECORDS / HIDEAKE UEDA
G.A.S. - GONG APPRECIATION SOCIETY
MIKE LLOYD MUSIC MAIL ORDER,
MUSEA
THE MUSIC SPECIALISTS
NORMAL MAIL ORDER
REC REC SWITZERLAND
SI MUSIC
STANISLAV HAPLA
TAXIM RECORDS
ULTIMA THULE

=============================
MAILORDER SOURCES IN THE USA:
=============================

ABCD
33 N Main St, Port Chester, NY  10573
[phone]
Request a catalog if nothing else.  They've got a great selection
of European and Japanese imports, some domestic stuff too.
 - [e-mail] (Jeff Hemmerling)

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AEON MUSIC, P.O.Box 6185, Torrance CA  90504
Run by Francisco Morales. The catalog is extensive, mostly of
used LPs and new CDs, a mixture of set sale and auction items
(mostly set sale). A lot of rarities and obscurities.
                                           - Peter Thelen

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ART CONTROL ENTERPRISES
Steven F. Del Nero
10301 Lake Ave. #825, Cleveland, OH 44102 USA
A set sale and auction list of used but near mint cds and lps. Steven mails
out this catalog about once a year or so of used items. The first part is an
auction and the second part is remaining items from previous auctions. His
list is fairly large and diverse, including obscure progressive, improv and
industrial music but pricing is close to what I can find the items for new
if I can find them (but I do live in an area with good music stores). Quality
of most items is supposed to be near mint. Worth checking out.   - Malcolm

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AUDIOPHILE IMPORTS
somewhere in Maryland?
[phone]
Someone said they have "a large selection of hard-to-find CD's",
though I'm not sure if their focus is really towards progressive
music. Supposedly they carry a lot of hard to find japanese, german
and other imports of fusion, and jazz and rock stuff. I called for
a catalog and was told that they were just doing a huge mailing and
couldn't get one to me until the next one about two months later.
The guy suggested he could send a copy now if I bought something
and asked if there was anything in particular I was looking for. He
mentioned a couple of Holdsworth obscurities. I told him I'd wait
for a catalog.  - Malcolm

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JEFF BAKER, R.D.2, Box 294, Camden DE  19934,  USA
His catalog of "progressive, psychedelic, electronic, folk-rock
to hard-rock collectable LPs & CDs" is $1 ($2 overseas)
                                       - Peter Thelen
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BARKING PUMPKIN RECORDS/ BARFKO SWILL?
1-818-PUMPKIN for more info.
    (786-7456)
This is Frank Zappa's mailorder business for Zappa and the Mother
of Invention releases and products such as posters, tshirts, etc.
The line usually has an informational recording during non business
hours, and I think they also answer general questions about Zappa
and take orders during regular business hours - probably 9am- 5pm
California time.   - Malcolm

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CALENDULA RECORDS / MT.OLYMPUS IMPORTS, Seattle area
Rick Haney c/o 6207 22nd Ave, Seattle WA 98115
(address may have changed)
Now here's a guy who I had a real bad mail order experience with.
As far as I'm concerned this guy is a total flake, I sent him money
for both of the HAPPY THE MAN CD's (Japanese Pressings), which he
had listed in his catalog. Six months later I got one of them, and
a refund for the other. This was after about 40 long distance phone
calls to his damn answering machine he never once returned a call,
and it turns out that at the time he put his catalog out, he didn't
have the discs in stock, in fact hadn't even ordered them yet, his
Idea was to take a bunch of orders THEN order them after he had
enough to guarantee a healthy profit for himself. Fortunately I was
able to get the missing title from BEASTONE, who had a couple
copies left. Watch out for this flake. He also runs another mail
order catalog called MOUNT OLYMPUS RECORDS, I got the catalog in
the mail, saw his name on the inside cover, then threw it in the
trash. Maybe local Seattle people have better experiences with him
dealing face to face, but for mail order - forget it.
                                                - Peter Thelen

I had a bad experience with a record store in Seattle that was
either called Mount Olympus or that was the title of a mailorder
catalog I later got associated with that store. I went to a store
in Seattle and found an amazing stock of new and used progressive
rock there. I bought a bunch of stuff and after I left town I
called to arrange another order which a friend was to pick up for
me. Many of the lps they had were priced at high collectors prices,
and I specifically asked them for a handful of releases, and I
asked them to pull any 2 of about 6 releases they had by Embryo.
The friend got there and found the order totaled $185 instead of
the $70 I'd told him it would be, and he thought something was
fishy and didn't take the order. A month or two later I found the
store billed my VISA card anyway, and they still had the records
"held" for me because they didn't have my shipping address. Turns
out they'd pulled they entire Embryo section priced at $25 each
thinking I'd wanted them all. I resolved it and was happy to get
lps I couldn't find anywhere else, but it was pretty sleazy on
their part. The Mount Olympus catalogs I saw had a lot of rare lps,
but at very high prices. It was (loosely?) affiliated with the
store that tried to burn me. This happened around late 1987, so
it's possible that the store and/or mailorder biz are gone now or
operating under another name. I would recommend that you make sure
you know exactly what you're getting before you send any money to
these folks or place an order.                     - Malcolm

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

CD CONNECTION BBS systems - San Jose, San Francisco, Chicago, New
York
(requires modem and computer terminal)
  Compact Disc Connection
  1016 East El Camino, #322        Voice: 408/733-0801  Fax:
408/733-0850
  Sunnyvale, California             Modem: 408/730-9015  Up to 9600
bps
                 94087                  (8 data, no parity, 1 stop)
  San Francisco area/Berkeley: 510/843-1259
  Chicago: 312/751-2447; New York City: 212/532-4045
58,000+ Cds listed on-line, accepts VISA, MasterCard, $3 per
regular order; free shipping on orders of $100 within 48 US states,
Phonolog(tm)-Select - industry standard song/track title database.
Downloadable catalogs so you can search offline, and available via
mail for $5 (deductible from next/first order). The Golden Ears
Society -  music critics.  Ships to Canada, Overseas shipping info
available. Claims 94% average ability to deliver - 90 -100% of
orders filled.
Delivery of orders requires approximately 1 work week + shipping
time (1-2.5 weeks depending on location. An separate account must
be established on each system (city) you will be using.

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

CLEEFO, Box 652, Ellington CT 06029  USA.
 Phone: [phone]PM EST
Cleefo (that's his name) specializes in cutout CDs, Cassettes and
Videos of all types. He used to send out a list, but rarely does
anymore as his stock turns over so quickly. Just this year (92) he
was able to get me two long- out-of-print Synergy CD's and Dixie
Dregs "Dregs of the Earth" CD. It's best to just call and let him
know what you're looking for. I've never had any problems with his
service, he's always been friendly and helpful on the phone, and
has a network of other record-show type dealers that he works with,
which in some cases allows him to get some long-lost obscurities in
record time. (he couldn't find me a copy of Utopia's POV though
!!). Overall very good prices.   - Peter Thelen
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

CMP RECORDS (USA)              CMP RECORDS
155 W. 72nd Street  #704       PO BOX 1129
New York                       D-5166 Kreuzau
NY  10023  USA                 F.R. GERMANY
CMP is a label with a variety of releases ranging from fusion and
jazz, to world ethnic music, gamelans, etc. Trilok Gurtu, David
Torn, Chad Wackerman, Ed Mann, Allan Holdsworth and Mick Karn are
just some of the players on various CMP releases. I'm not positive
they still do direct mailorder and I know I can find their releases
in stores and through distributors like Ranjit, but it's nice to
look a catalog of their releases to see the full scope of what they
carry. Write for a free catalog.   - Malcolm

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CORIOLIS RECORDS Box 3528, Orange CA 92665
They handle only a very limited selection of Southern Cal.
independent artists: Walter Holland, Djam Karet, Neuroneum,
Steve Roach, Mark Dwane, and a handful of others.  - Peter Thelen

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DUTCH EAST INDIA TRADING
PO BOX 800, Rockville Centre, NY 11571-0800
Carries some Wyatt and Soft Machine BBC releases and probably other
BBC Peel Sessions too. Appears to be licensing the material from
Strange Fruit records. I've heard that they have a mailorder
catalog but I haven't asked for it because I can find the releases
in local stores here already.  - Malcolm

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ESD - EAST SIDE DIGITAL
530 North 3rd Street, Minneapolis, MN 55401
A small label that has releases by Fred Frith, Henry Cow, Happy The
Man, National Health, The Residents, and more. Last time I wrote
they mailed me a catalog that was months out of date, but the
prices were pretty decent and cheaper than other mailorder vendors
that carry their releases.  - Malcolm

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EUROCK MAGAZINE & DISTRIBUTION
PO Box 13718, Portland OR,  97213  USA
Phone: [phone] (10 AM - 5 PM ONLY !!!)
Subscription to Eurock "magazine" is $ 8.00 / Year. <Though if you
buy from Eurock regularly the magazine/catalog may arrive for free.>
Eurock started as a magazine in the mid-70s, specializing in
European progressive and space rock. The magazine had a
supplementary distribution list of difficult to find music that you
could order direct. As all stores began carrying less imported
material, Eurock Distribution grew in importance to the point that
the magazine now has pretty much taken a back seat to the catalog.
The owner of this enterprise is Archie Patterson, whose preferences
lie primarily in electronic driven space music and melodic
progressive rock, and his lists tend to reflect this. His lists
tend to come out about 4 times a year, and each item is accompanied
by a brief description and synopsis which I've found to be very
accurate for the most part. He has his own in-house label (also
called Eurock) which features artists like Gandalf, Robert Julian
Horky, Green Isac, Erik Wollo and others.
One thing to note is that Eurock generally does not restock items
after they are sold out unless the demand is overwhelming, and he
gets things in fairly modest quantities, so the best policy is to
give him a call as soon as the catalog comes out to reserve the
Items you want - if you wait more than a few weeks some things will
no longer be in stock. Generally he's happy to discuss the Items he
has in stock over the phone if you need more information,  as long
as you don't call after 5:PM PST; in fact i'd recommend this, as he
can get your feedback from previous orders and learn what your
tastes are and make specific recommendations for you. I've been
dealing with Eurock for about 7 or 8 years, and I have never had
any problems, nor do I know anyone who has... He generally delivers
within a week or two of receipt of payment. Does not accept credit
cards.   - Peter Thelen
 - - - - - - - - - - -
The magazine now is mostly product listings with (very) occasional
interviews and information.  The mail order business is excellent.
I'm a little biased because Archie lives here in Portland and I
just go over to his house to buy things and talk about music.
The magazine is double sided Xeroxed pages stapled together.
It cost eight dollars a year (I think).
 - Jeff Hemmerling <[e-mail]>
 - - - - - - - - - - -
Archie generally gives fairly verbose reviews of most of the albums
he sells.  I've bought a fair amount from him but have long since
stopped primarily because I found his reviews to be wildly
inaccurate. Most of the things I evaluate in music tend to go
untouched or misrepresented.

 These would be such things as:
    1. What are the musician's capabilities from a traditional
point of view? (You probably have to be a fairly accomplished
musician to say this truthfully)
    2. Do performance flaws mar the recording?
    3. Is there a higher cohesiveness or purpose to the work or is
it just some hackers playing in a studio?
    4. What is the level of energy and urgency?

I have a couple of real gems that I bought through him that didn't
really stick out in his reviews as such.  So I'd have to give him
a D for his ability to review but an A+ for making so much music
available.   - Steve Sycamore <[e-mail]>

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FOT RECORDS/PASSED NORMAL COMPILATIONS
PO BOX 505, BLOOMINGTON, IL 60108
Phone/Fax [phone]
Small, odd selection of compilations and mailorder with some cheap
and some regularly priced items. Includes works by Frith, Kaiser,
Don Cherry, Sun Ra, Negativland, Daevid Allen, Mother Gong, Made To
Measure and more.  - Malcolm

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G.A.S. - GONG APPRECIATION SOCIETY

GAS AMERICA
PO BOX 1151, NORTH WALES, PA 19454
Send an SASE for more info.
GAS in the USA offers some merchandise, tapes, tour info and
newsletters but carries less of the rare tapes and cds and other
products compared to GAS UK. See GAS UK listing in the
international mailorder section for more details.

not really a mailorder source, but worth mentioning here:
 Gong San Francisco Concert info hotline
 [phone]
 P.O. Box 470535, SF, CA 94147-0535
Info about upcoming San Francisco area shows and releases by Gong
and Gong-related tour network. Daevid Allen, The Magick Brothers,
Tim Blake, Mother Gong, and Gilli Smyth have done local shows
already, and Richard Sinclair, Kevin Ayers, David Cross band, and
Gordon Haskell are some of the artists possibly playing here in the
future.

Also, if you're interested in Gong, see the Spectrum Music Video
listing for info on a Gongmaison live video they carry.

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TIM HOLDEN
139 Hawkfield Crescent NW, Calgary Alberta, Canada T3G 1Z4
Phone: [phone]  (5-9PM PST)

Tim is a guy who deals mainly in used LPs and works shows in his
area, he's got good contacts with a lot of other dealers &
collectors in his area, and seems to have no trouble finding rare
and out-of-print stuff if you give him a little time. He found me
6 o/p albums by Maneige over the course of the last year, and found
the whole FM catalog for a friend of mine, including the rare first
album "Headroom", all for very reasonable prices. His service is
extremely good, turn-around-time is quick, and he's a really
friendly chap to talk with on the phone. Recommended for o/p stuff.
                                                  - Peter Thelen

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LABYRINTH
575 3 St., Apt. 1-D, Brooklyn, NY 11215
a mail-order distributor run by my friend Tony Coulter (who does a
great radio show on WFMU).  He's an expert on obscure progressive
rock, a lot of which he has available for sale or trade. He also
carries a lot of Recommended/Re stuff.  Some random items from his
current catalog: Ron Geesin, Super Sister (Dutch prog rock),
Blegvad, Re Quarterly, obscure Italian prog rock, Fat, Faust, R.
Stevie Moore, and many many things I've never heard of.
                -  Dave Mandl ([e-mail])

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DOUG LARSON
62 Crane St., Caldwell NJ  07006   Phone: [phone]
Doug has a very extensive list of all kinds of progressive from all
over the world, and his prices are fairly reasonable. A really easy
guy to deal with and not too opinionated about things. If you call
(after 4PM EST) he'll take your order right then and ship it as
soon as he gets payment. He sends everything out priority mail,
which all makes his TAT very quick. From the west coast, my
experience has been typically 7 working days from the day I phoned
in the order and sent the payment, to the day the discs arrive.
That beats everyone else hands down, even guys on the west coast -
Doug's definitely the fastest Turnaround in the business. He
handles a really good selection of Italian 70's prog, I'm really
impressed with his selection of other types of stuff too. He will
make a sampler tape of various discs in his list for a nominal
charge, but don't ask him to record the whole disc, just
selections. He advertises in goldmine every two weeks, which is a
good way to keep up with the new stuff he gets in stock. He's also
got an extensive list of rare and o/p LP's. Highly Recommended.
                                          - Peter Thelen

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THE LASER'S EDGE
PO BOX 3128, Hoboken, NJ 07030
201-656-2112 (6PM to 10PM EST, No Later !!!)
The Laser's Edge is a Label and mail-order CD only distribution run
by Ken Golden. Ken gets the medal for having positively the most
descriptive and informative catalog of any mail-order outfit I've
ever dealt with, every disc is reviewed carefully, and opinions are
offered - one of the few people I've ever seen who will tell you
that a disc he carries is crappy if it really is ! The in-house
label (TLE also) has many releases mostly by long forgotten
independent artists from the 70's, but there are some new releases
as well. Artists include: The Load, A Triggering Myth, Werwolf,
Landberk, Spring, Nightwinds, Atlantis Philharmonic and others. His
tastes lean more towards early post-psychedelic proto-progressive
stuff, and this is evidenced in many of the releases on his own
label. One must remember this when using the descriptions in his
catalog to make a judgement on something. He tends to get unusual
stuff that, like Wayside, nobody else seems to want to carry. I've
found him only to be moderately friendly on the phone (but then I'm
one of those people that calls at 11PM too!), he generally won't go
into any further elaboration on items he has in stock, "I think I
described that adequately in the catalog" is his stock answer. He's
been very dependable, but since he's a one-man operation, things
get a little slower if you order right after the catalog comes out
(2x/year), he does take Visa and Mastercard. Strongly recommended.
  - Peter Thelen

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NOTEWORTHY MUSIC, 17 Airport Road, Nashua NH  03063
   Phone [phone], Fax: [phone]
Noteworthy is a mail-order only outfit who deal only in domestic
product, and only the best known of it as well. They still have a
very good selection and have been especially helpful in rounding
out my collections of Kansas, Pat Metheny, Zappa, King Crimson,
Tull and others. Why order from these guys, you might ask ? Because
their prices are about two dollars cheaper than you'll find in
almost any record store, and when you order enough the shipping is
next to nothing. In some cases their prices for new product are a
dollar less than you could get the same used disc for in a store.
And for those of us in California with the 8% sales tax, Noteworthy
is out of state, an added savings - for a little while longer at
least. Real nice catalog, call and ask for it.   - Peter Thelen

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PROGRESSIVE INTERNATIONAL
3180 Washington Blvd Suite 310, Ogden Utah 84401
Phone: [phone]   Fax: [phone]
Originally Progressive Records, it was started by a couple named
Brad and Rona (if I recall correctly) in Livermore CA. in the
mid-80's. They lost interest and sold the business to Ken Welchoff
who moved it to Hayward CA, then to Union City CA, then back to
Hayward, then finally to Utah. Around 1990 he joined with Q Records
and Keith Turner (of Quasar) in London to form an international
business and record label. For years it was a store of sorts where
one could shop by appointment. With the Union City move they tried
to establish a store with regular hours, but the local support
wasn't there. All along they have been a mail order outlet and,
although I've rarely dealt with them by mail, I've heard a lot of
horror stories not unlike my dealings with Calendula (see above).
I personally have no bad experiences. Their in-house label features
artists like Solstice, Xaal, Sinister Street, Anthony Phillips,
Gryphon, Steeleye Span, Aragon, Wayne Kramer and others. They are
getting national distribution in major chain stores like Tower and
others, so there's really no need to buy their titles directly from
them. They also handle distribution for bands like Galahad and
Final Conflict, and stock a modest selection of other imported
titles as well, although my feeling is that they would like to get
out of the direct mail-order business altogether and sell to
distributors only. Like many others, I've found that these guys are
less than totally reliable about getting things in that they say
they will get in, so my recommendation is to never order anything
unless they have it in stock when you order.    - Peter Thelen
<Editor's Note: It appears that Progressive as a mailorder source
is now no longer operating, and if it revives then it may be risky
to deal with. But the label is still active in some form, now based
out of Utah. - malcolm>

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RANJIT PADMANABHAN, 566 Crystalberry Terrace, San Jose CA  95129
Email: [e-mail]
Specializes in import CDs pertaining to Progressive Rock and
Electronic music.

Such a clever idea: Sell CD's over the net. Anyway, I'd been
hearing about Ranjit for a couple years, mostly from Ken Welchoff
of Progressive, who recommended him highly, before I actually got
in touch with him. It was other netters highest recommendations
that finally convinced me. He sends out periodic "Descriptive"
catalogs over the net, as well as simple lists that list everything
he has in stock. All you need to do is email him and ask him to
send it. He's a very friendly guy, knowledgeable and helpful, his
selection is extremely good and his prices are good also. Once your
order is confirmed, he holds it for you, you send him the payment,
and he sends you the discs. Very simple, very convenient. He also
carries all currently available issues of Audion Magazine, and,
like Doug Larson, will make a sampler tape of things from his list
for a nominal fee.    - Peter Thelen

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ROCKAWAY RECORDS, 2395 Glendale Blvd. LA CA 90039
Tel: [phone]
These guys offer CDs of some live shows, Westwood One
radio discs, etc. but nothing specifically progressive,
just general interest. Ordered once - service was fast.
                                    - Peter Thelen

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ROUND SOUNDS (address may be wrong)
419 North Pacific Coast Highway, Redondo Beach, CA, 90277
Phone: [phone]
Round Sounds is a small record store which also operates a CD
mail-order business. The proprietors name is Ed, and he's a real
friendly guy who'll gladly offer an opinion on something in his
list (which is mailed out at irregular intervals and has no
descriptions, just a list). Every time I'm in southern California
I always make a point to stop by his store, he has a lot of "Rare"
CD's (ahem) that he doesn't put in his list. I understand he also
has periodic "Progressive Listening Parties" at his newer larger
store, which i've not seen yet (above address may be wrong, call
first for sure) His list is very complete, but I find that a lot of
things he lists are only occasionally in stock, and like
Progressive, he tends to have a lot of excuses why things in his
list aren't in stock. Over the last few years I've ordered from him
many times, and I've generally had good luck, but more than
occasionally I've had to call and remind him of my order, which in
a few cases he'd just forgotten to send. In some cases it was items
he thought were in stock but weren't so he held up the order. One
time he sent the wrong stuff totally, I had to send it back. He
will send a partial order if you ask him to, and send the rest when
it comes in. His prices for most stuff are pretty competitive, and
he accepts MC, Visa and Amex too. I find he's overall pretty good
on selection (despite his ambitious list) but a little flaky on
service.      - Peter Thelen

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SOUND CITY 2000, P.O.Box 22149, Portland OR 97222-0149  USA
Phone: [phone]   Fax: [phone]
These guys have specific catalogs for Japanese, German
and British releases. They have no stock, they order
after you pay... a flimsy deal if you ask me, plus their
prices are extortionate.    - Peter Thelen

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SPECTRUM MUSIC VIDEO
1-800-84MUSIC
I don't know much about this place, except:
They carry the Gongmaison 1991, Brixton, UK show at the Fridge for
sale for $19.95 plus $3.50 shipping. This video has some great
special effects and brief interviews with Daevid Allen and Didier
are spliced in. It's great! It includes lots of old Gong material
circa Camembert Electrique.   - Malcolm

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SYN-PHONIC, P.O.Box 2034, La Habra CA  90631
Tel/Fax: [phone]
Syn-phonic is owned by Greg Walker, who also has an in-house label
which specializes primarily in American progressive artifacts, but
he also has some current artists signed. The roster includes
Kalaban, Now, Babylon, Mirthrandir, Northstar, Cathedral and
others. For years he was releasing this stuff on vinyl only,
notorious for their marginal pressing quality. However, since
around 1991 Greg has been releasing CDs only, and unlike the LPs,
no quality was spared on these, either in the pressings or the
booklets, which tend to have extensive information on the artists,
much like America's answer to Musea. He has gone back and
re-released much of his vinyl on disc now, and eventually plans to
re-release everything and then some. His mail-order list is
extensive, and includes imports from all over the world. His prices
on Japanese product are the best anywhere, frankly I don't know how
he can do it, but his prices are roughly the same as one would pay
in Tokyo ! He also has an amazing selection of 70's Italian
product. His service is very good, prompt TAT, and although he
seems to be difficult to get hold of on the phone, when you do
catch him he is very helpful and honest. He's one of the few
that'll tell you something in his list is garbage. I was ready to
order something once, and he recommended I save my money !!
Also, for those who are into vinyl, he still stocks things on both
formats, whenever available, although I imagine the LPs will
disappear from his stock eventually.     - Peter Thelen

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TEC TONES/RALPH RECORDS/NEGATIVMAILORDERLAND
P.O. Box 1477, Hoboken, NJ  07030  (former address was in SF, CA)
Phone [phone], Fax [phone]
TEC TONES is the mailorder wing of Ralph Records, TEC Tones
releases, and Negativland products. They also carry some other
items like imports of Fred Frith and ESD Henry Cow releases. Mainly
it's the mailorder company for the Residents' releases and for
Frith, Snakefinger, Clubfoot and other releases on the Ralph label
and distribution for some other small labels from the US and other
parts of the world.                          - Malcolm

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VOICEPRINT
PO BOX 32827, KANSAS CITY, MO 64111  USA
[phone] business # (and home # too?)
[phone] fax

Rick Chafen at Voiceprint books the US tours of the Gong/Canterbury
network (which strays beyond those parameters but it's the easiest
way to describe it). Rick has helped present or is working on tours
by Daevid Allen, The Magick Brothers, Tim Blake, Mother Gong, Gilli
Smyth, Richard Sinclair, Kevin Ayers, Didier Malherbe Trio, David
Cross band, and Gordon Haskell. He's the person to talk to if you'd
like to help book shows by these artists in your city.

Voiceprint US has a couple of products and also imports UK
Voiceprint releases by Daevid Allen, Magick Brothers, Tim Blake,
Nic Potter, David Jackson, Robert Wyatt and more. A number of
releases including early Canterbury and recent Canterbury projects
and also works by David Bedford, Kevin Ayers and others are pending
soon, supposedly to be released by early 1993. These releases can
be ordered from Voiceprint or from other distributors at comparable
prices.    - Malcolm

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WAYSIDE MUSIC
PO Box 8427, Silver Spring MD  20902-8427  USA
Phone #: [phone] new release info & catalog requests.
Wayside is the Mail Order outfit that I've been dealing with the
longest, probably around 8 or 9 years. They have two catalogs: An
annual "Green" catalog of Items they keep in stock all year long,
plus a quarterly (?) "White" catalog that lists Items that are
either new in stock or that will not be restocked after they are
gone, many of these items are very limited quantity stuff, so after
you get the white catalog it's best to act fast. Wayside carries a
wide variety of progressive stuff, but clearly favors the fringe,
RIO, and other uncategorizable material over the "melodic pop" type
progressive. They have two in-house labels: Cuneiform and W.M.A.S.
(Wayside Music Archive Series) featuring artists like Univers Zero,
PFS, Curlew, Richard Pinhas, Dr. Nerve, Miriodor, Henry Kaiser,
Phil Miller, However, Forever Einstein, etc. The catalogs usually
have a brief (3-6 line) description of the items they carry. I've
found these descriptions to sometimes be inaccurate and misleading,
so it's best to proceed with caution if you're about to buy
something you've never heard of based on a Wayside description...
Then again these catalog descriptions have sometimes led to some
really nice surprises. Complaints: First and foremost is their lack of a live
telephone for order confirmation, and secondly the they take too
long - sometimes up to six weeks - to send out the orders. Usually
it takes about a month. On the plus side, they've recently added
credit card payment as an option, which means you no longer have to
list a bunch of alternatives you don't really want or receive
credit slips.    - Peter Thelen

Wayside is also a good source for mailorder for folks outside the
USA. It's one of the few catalogs I recall that lists international
shipping rates, and based on what I've heard it offers fairly
competitive rate compared to what cds sell for in some parts of the
world.
                                                   - Malcolm

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ZNR RECORDS
P.O.Box 58040, Louisville KY, 40268-0040  Phone: ???
Have their own Label; I wrote to them once about a couple
specific titles, he had them but the asking price was a joke.
Asked them to send a catalog, they sent an auction list of
some rare prog LPs. I know a lot of people who buy from them.
                                            - Peter Thelen

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==================================
MAILORDER SOURCES OUTSIDE THE USA:
==================================

BEASTONE RECORDS / HIDEAKE UEDA
SB Heights Ten # 301, 9-1 Kikusui, Shiroishi-Ku, Sapporo 003 Japan.
(Hideake Ueda is the guy's name)
I've only ordered from Beastone a few times, their catalog is
extensive but mostly general interest stuff (non-progressive), but
they do (or did) have a decent selection of "Live" (ahem) CD's and
other "Rarities"... And he will find things for you that aren't in
the catalog. My first dealing with Beastone was in an effort to
locate the o/p Happy the Man CD that i didn't get from Calendula
(see above), and they came through almost immediately ! I haven't
ordered from them in a long time, but they do take IMO's in US
Currency, and deliver stuff very quickly (more quickly than most
domestic outfits).    - Peter Thelen

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G.A.S. - GONG APPRECIATION SOCIETY

GAS
PO BOX 871, GLASTONBURY, SOMERSET, BA6 9FE, UK
GAS in the UK carries a number of tapes of rare Gong and Gong
related folks, lps, cds, tshirts, posters, lyrics, newsletters,
tour info and other goodies. Also see the US GAS listing above.
As of 1990, GAS Membership costs 8 pounds per year. You receive a
tape of unreleased material, a discount of 10% on anything ordered,
and quarterly newsletters to which you are welcome to contribute.
I suspect rates may have changed. I'd recommend sending an IRC
asking for more info.     - Malcolm

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MIKE LLOYD MUSIC MAIL ORDER,
14-20 Brunswick Street, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs, ST1 1DR, UK
Phone: ???
Formerly known as Lotus Records, these guys have specialized
catalogs for Canterbury, Zeuhl (Magma), and other stuff.     -
Peter Thelen

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MUSEA, 68 La Tinchotte, 57117 Retonfey, FRANCE  Fax: [phone]
Really nice catalog (in english now), but I've heard that they are
very slow, and difficult to get hold of by phone. Most of their
stuff is available elsewhere.   - Peter Thelen

Also see other Musea listings under Labels and Publications for
more details on the label and magazine.

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THE MUSIC SPECIALISTS
50 Raffles Place, #03-011, Shell Tower, Singapore 0104
phone [phone]
fax   [phone]
Carries a lot of live and bootleg cds. Similar to the CD Connection
in Germany, but supposedly more reliable per one friend who has
used both. They'll send lists for $2.

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NORMAL MAIL ORDER
Bonner Talweg 276, 5300 Bonn 1, GERMANY
tel (Germany)-228-22 06 55
fax           [phone]
Excellent selection of bands on tiny labels. Lots of really
obscure punk, Australian, New Zealand and German bands.
They are very prompt at answering fax enquiries and will
probably mail you a catalogue for free. They are also
capable of locating out of date obscure vinyl and CD's.
  -Andrew  [e-mail]

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RecRec Genossenschaft
Magnusstrasse 5
8004, Zurich, SWITZERLAND
phone (Switzerland) -1 - 272 28 38
fax                 -1 - 273 05 25
A tiny chaotic shop in the shadow of the train station, but
serves as the retail outlet of the RecRec label (Fred Frith
and many others).
They also do mail order from the address above. Catalogue is not
free, but it is large and pleasantly opinionated. It's also
in German.
        - Andrew  [e-mail]

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SI MUSIC, Postbus 938, 3800 AX Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
I Have a fax number for these guys somewhere, but I can't find it
right now. Anyway, I ordered from them one time, their service was
good, although a bit slow, and they also don't take plastic, so
you've got the foreign currency hassle again. They WILL trade for
new US progressive product (at least a guy named Rob Hannameyer
seemed like he was willing to do his). They have a really nice
magazine with reviews in dutch, which I understand about every
fourth word of, but they do have a lot of reviews, and a price list
is included in every issue for the stuff on their own SI label, as
well as other items reviewed in their magazine. First off, there's
really no need to order from SI directly, It's gonna cost an arm
and a leg, plus stateside dealers like Eurock, Ranjit, Doug Larson
and Symphonic carry most of the same stuff at far better prices.
Another thing I learned from my one and only order from SI is that
if the stateside guys don't carry something, there's usually a
pretty good reason for it. My SI order was $ 120 for three of the
worst discs in my collection, plus a fourth I could've gotten for
a lot less stateside a few weeks later had I waited and been more
patient.    - Peter Thelen

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STANISLAV HAPLA
Jungmannova 7/692, 736 01 Havirov-Mesto, Czechoslovakia
A possible source for East European CD releases.

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TAXIM RECORDS, Postfach 10 11 43, 2900 Bremen 1, West Germany
<catalog in german only>
I originally got referred to Taxim when I wrote directly to Line
Records looking for a distributor for their product. I've ordered
from them a bunch of times and have always had very good luck (they
accept major credit cards as well, which simplifies things a lot
when ordering from overseas). They apparently no longer carry the
entire Line label and as such I've had difficulty finding things in
their catalog that I couldn't find from a domestic distributor, so
I haven't ordered anything in a year or so. Prices are very good.
Catalog is a glossy mag, all in german.   - Peter Thelen

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ULTIMA THULE, 1 Conduit Street, Leicester, LE2 0JN, UK
Ultima Thule is a store and mailorder business affiliated with
Audion Magazine. Offers a catalog of new items and rarities in
stock at the store at the above location. I think they ask for $2
cash for a newsletter/catalog and something more than that for a
more comprehensive catalog. The one catalog I saw had quite a
selection of rare lps, but the prices were "collectors" prices and
I think the catalog operated as an auction with the price listed
being the minimum bid.                     - Malcolm

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===================================================================

That's it for now. We encourage re-distribution of this list, but
please keep it intact. Updates will be done periodically.

The Frederic Dannen quote at the top of this file is from a very interesting
book about the music industry and the "Powers broker and fast money inside
the music business" and the greed and ambition and occasional mob and other
illegal connections of the industry. It's pretty ugly stuff and worth reading
for a better understanding of why the artist is often the victim of the
industry.

I'll send a current copy of this RESOURCES listing via regular mail
to anyone requesting it as long as a large SASE (with adequate postage)
or an IRC is sent to me with the request.

Please send any updates, additions and corrections to

    [e-mail]
or
    Malcolm Humes, 2439A Tenth Street, Berkeley, CA 94710

===========================END OF FILE=============================