Buying Prog CDs at Stores

Leicester's Ultima Thule is very good - literally nextdoor to Leicester Railway Station in Conduit Street - but beware they open midday to 5pm only on Wednesdays to Saturdays (and can close up impromptually for their holidays!!). Also check out their webpage/web mail order services via Ultima Thule Audion.

Run by the brothers Freeman, who have a wealth of knowledge on progressive rock - they are acknowledged as being world experts on Krautrock and they are putting an update, CDROM version of their book "Cosmic Egg" together at the moment. Apart from a thorough knowledge of the UK prog scene , they are red hot on Italian and the French scene - and I enjoy the occasional friendly "debate" with Alan (who serves the shop), his knowledge is not absolutely perfect but who's is? Add to these RIO, electronica and avante, (they provide some service to the music school of Leicester University).

They turned me on to Anekdoten (my favourite neo prog  band of the 90's), Ibis, Collegium Musicum, Kraan and many other prog related bands I missed the first time around and certainly would not have found elsewhere in the UK. They are also slowly educating me in Krautrock. If you are a regular at their store, they get to know your tastes very well and are likely to sample you with albums you've not heard before - it is rare I don't buy several albums on each visit. And they have an excellent secondhand service in vinyl, cassettes and CD formats.

Edited by Dick Heath

Fantom,

I don't know if you have A&B Sound in Eastern
Canada, but in Western Canada that is probably the
best retail store for finding progressive rock albums
for a low price. I bought most of my Genesis and Van
der Graaf Generator CDs, for example, for about $10
Canadian new. Ozric Tentacles? $13. I even got the
double Coma Divine CD (Porcupine Tree) for about
$23. None of these were sale prices. Nevertheless,
even A&Bs selection is limited. What I can't find there
(or at Zulu Records, a specialty store in Vancouver) I
order on-line. Amazon.ca usually, or the Freak
Emporium. The service at the Freak Emporium is
exceptional and they often have in stock things that
you can't find anywhere else. I ordered Porcupine
Tree's 'Recordings', 'Lightbulb Sun', and Gong's
'Angel's Egg' the other day and received my order in
less than a week and a half (from England!). The
prices are often surprisingly good -- too bad
customs always grabs 'em.

Where I'm located, it seems that a lot of rare things are around. I can go to one of the independent shops in Berkeley, California, and can get almost all the CD's I'm looking for (except for those damn elusive Fish-Era Marillion CD's).  I've even found a Flower Kings CD in my local Best Buy (which is pretty damn unbelievable). But I always find myself ordering more and more off the internet.

ah well i was in HMV in london and they had a pretty decent selection...but anyways here in norway the music stores have even quit the metal genre...so now there is only pop and (c)rap and those commercial stuff there

Horrible stuff.

www.missingpiece.net

Great progressive rock web-store, I get most of my cd´s from them. Good service and fast shipping. If they don´t have what you want in store, they get it.

Take care.

I think Ebay is the best resource, I recently bought the rare Morte Macabre cd for $10,50...

www.synphonic.8m.com

 

More than 10 thousand prog titles; excellent service.

http://www.click2rock.net/ ... A  newly opened online store based in UK

The guy   also sells on ebay as fantasyk and has a 100% feedback rating. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There's a superb shop in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, NE England called Spin.I always end up spending far too much money in there whenever I'm able to get up to Newcastle (@ twice a year).They have a great selection of Prog',Kraut,Psych and Acid-Folk.They are also an on-line mail-order site.
Another shop(s)is/are Minus Zero/Stand-Out Records just off of Portobello Road,W London.Two shops in one building selling stuff that will make your jaw drop.       

Edited by Man Erg

felona wrote: based in the UK, there's Will Mackie @ caerllysi music   - also very knowledgeable   http://www.caerllysimusic.co.uk/   he always has  great deals going on ebay - username is  caerllysi . He is also  the main UK distributor for Glass Hammer.

I agree... Will's a good bloke, and is also the UK stockist for Anekdoten, Cross, Clepsydra, Lana Lane, Cyan, Magenta and a few others, hence his prices are very reasonable, although he can have supply difficulties....