ultimathulerecords

Alan Freeman https://www.facebook.com/alan.freeman.75054
shop page https://www.facebook.com/xylem777/

Ultima Thule news page http://www.ultimathulerecords.com/news.html

A FISTFUL OF SPAGHETTI Our Italian music book is out now. The price is £25 + p&p/shipping. The book weighs 730g (fits in a 1kg package), so international shipping isn't cheap, unless you use economy. Unfortunately there is no way to sell via Discogs, so look here for more info: http://www.ultimathulerecords.com/fistful.html


ULTIMA THULE was officially established in 1989 as a mail-order outlet for "Progressive Music From Around The World" - that is the eclectic musical field that bridges from the popular Prog acts of the 1970's through to the cutting-edge of "weird" - electronic, avant-garde, synth, fusions, rock, folk, and all manner of hybrids thereof. All of this chiefly within the taste ranges of avid music collectors, brothers: Alan and Steve Freeman, from Leicester, UK.

I'm Alan Freeman, and I manage the Ultima Thule side of things on Discogs (Steve also has an account as stevefreeman). I've been a collector of progressive and experimental music since 1973, fascinated with electronics, the weird and the challenging. Amateur journalist with Face Out, Neumusik, Audion magazine, and numerous others, record and CD cover notes, etc.
I've been a sound and electronics dabbler "experimental musician" since 1979, and have recorded a number of solos (musique-concrete through to ambient), but have been most prolific in bands/projects like: Alto Stratus, Endgame and Triax, as well as many other projects, solo electronics and synth/ambient, on and off with Shapeshifter for over a decade, live electronics jam sessions at Quadelectronic, etc., etc.

ULTIMA THULE are the publishers of...
AUDION MAGAZINE specialist music magazine established in 1986, with 58 printed issues through to 2013, plus a number of special publications (Nurse With Wound guide, East Euro discography, etc.). Audion was relaunched in 2020 as a download pdf/multimedia publication: https://audion1.bandcamp.com/
THE CRACK IN THE COSMIC EGG the critically acclaimed 1996 encyclopedia of Krautrock music, now vastly expanded as the 2020 multimedia DVD-Rom edition. Get it here: https://www.discogs.com/sell/release/15760771
A FISTFUL OF SPAGHETTI encyclopedia of Italian progressive rock, experimental & electronic music, published in 2022 as a large format book, in an edition of 500 copies.http://www.ultimathulerecords.com/fistful.html
TWILIGHT OF THE ALCHEMISTS encyclopedia of French progressive rock, experimental & electronic music, work in progress due out in late 2024: http://www.ultimathulerecords.com/twilight.html

Having our own small studio at home has also meant I'm the sound archivist and Tachyon studio engineer (since 1999), manager of our labels Auricle, Ultimate Transmissions, Cosmic Egg, Dark Star (2), etc. We've released hundreds of our own albums on cassette and CD/CDR over the past 3 decades, and also have exclusive releases by Günter Schickert, GAM, Out Of Focus, Kontrast (11), Con Hertz, David Prescott, Ole Højer Hansen, New 7th Music, Chris Conway (2), Jim Tetlow, Sine Wave (2), David Hindmarch, etc., etc. A recent discovery is the excellent instrumental freak-out rock band Ruin (11). All these releases are available via Discogs.

Still a music collector, always on the search for things I may have missed, especially 1970's prog, space-rock, Krautrock, electronic music, and such-like, which is how I came across Discogs. Of course, I now wish I'd joined-up earlier!
I joined Discogs on 2 February 2012, and have since documented all our own releases (along with stevefreeman), added 1,000's of pictures, have done loads of reviews and other stuff, started selling via Discogs (usually over 1,000 titles on sale) and almost got to the 10,000 points mark in 1 year! And I'm still doing my bit when I can.

Note: I currently do not list my collection on Discogs. As Discogs does not have any way of tagging stock to be relisted for sale I use the collection tag to mark such items. I also tag certain other items I have to alert me if people update/change them. You can find our collection list at: http://www.ultimathulerecords.com/collection.txt

Ultima Thule mail-order via the Discogs site

We now use Discogs "shipping policies" for p&p / shipping rates
This automated system means no more waiting for invoices. You order your item(s) and pay according to the options given. If the calculation quotes wrongly we may require an extra payment, or will refund the extra paid when there is a significant difference. You can still hold-back on payment and request a customised invoice, especially if you require CDs to be supplied uncased.
Speedy service: Pay before 12:00 noon UK time weekdays (9:00am Saturdays) and we'll usually send the same day.
international 2 x CD orders: It is often cheaper to make 2 separate orders, check rates.
Packaging/Delivery: We pride ourselves with our packing. We use deluxe cartons for LPs, mail-lite/jiffy type packets for small CD orders (and easy letter box delivery) and cartons for larger CD orders. Our p&p rates are based on average weights, plus the cost of the packaging, Discogs & PayPal fees, etc.
Tracking: There is no tracking on standard post in the UK, or from the UK to anywhere else. Royal Mail charges extra for their tracked services. For tracking, choose signed/tracked options on Discogs.
Insurance: Expensive items need to be insured. Due to the limitations of the Discogs "shipping policies" we may require an extra payment to cover very expensive items.
Grading: We examine all new stocks as they arrive, avoiding problems with faulty pressings, missing/wrong discs, etc., or Discogs "not actual item" problems (so we don't always sell still sealed new items), and we strictly grade second-hand items, both visually and by playing them.

Typical heavy carton with crush zones, that we use for LP parcels


Problems with your order? / Returns & Refunds: In the unlikely event of anything being wrong: 1. please contact us immediately on the day of receiving an order and tell us what is wrong. 2. keep the packaging intact. 3. share photos of any evidence. We do not have a returns guarantee for items ordered by mistake, as this is very unlikely given the nature of how Discogs works. We will refund on items returned, but only when agreed, and when you have contacted us immediately upon receiving the order. In most cases customers are responsible for the cost of returning items. Any refunds are for goods only, minus any non-refundable fees incurred.
Returned non-deliverable items: Please be sure your address info is correct and safe. We are not responsible if items are returned.
Import taxes & duty: Please be aware if you are based outside of the UK that local taxes & customs clearance fees may apply and will be payable by the customer. Each territory has its own import duty rates and regulations and this is totally outside of our control. By making an order with us, you understand these costs may be applied and that you agree to pay them when charged. For EU orders we use Royal Mail's "Click & Drop" with integrated IOSS, which notifies the destination country that VAT fees have been paid by Discogs. You should receive no charges upon delivery.
Current Royal Mail status: since 2000 there have been serious delays to most EU countries due to Brexit, new EU customs regulations and Covid. For current service status, check: https://personal.help.royalmail.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5317/~/international-incident-bulletin

Descriptions:
We try to give a musical description in all our Discogs listings to aid buyers. Some non-Discogs styles...
Canterbury aka "Canterbury Scene" in the vein of Caravan, Egg, Soft Machine, etc.
RiO aka "Rock in Opposition" avant left-field prog movement instigated by Henry Cow.
Zeuhl a mostly French field of cross-genre fusion based on the Magma (Christian Vander) style.

Ultima Thule have been in the business of selling music by mail for 30 years. You are safe with us! Remember to leave a message and also give us feedback when you receive your order and I will leave you feedback in return.

Facebook
Ultima Thule & Audion magazine page https://www.facebook.com/groups/ultimathulemusic/
Click on the "About" tab when visiting the above group to discover or other Facebook groups, including four
"progressive & underground" groups: British, French, German and Italian, "The Crack In The Cosmic Egg", "Sounds like Krautrock", and "Synth Sequencer Cosmic Electronic".
More info here: http://www.ultimathulerecords.com/facebook.html

Some useful characters for Discogs listing...
℗ ✳ ■ ▼ △ ▽ ◇ ①②③④⑤⑥⑦⑧⑨ ♲ ⒶⒷⒸⒹⒺⒻⒼⒽⒾⒿⓀⓁⓂⓃⓄⓅⓆⓇⓈⓉⓊⓋⓌⓍⓎⓏ