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FISHEYE DISTRIBUTION (Fisheye Distribution, PO Box 110, Farnborough, Hampshire GU14 6YT) Not dissimilar mail-order to Fourth Dimension, without the more experimental stuff and with more underground rock imports: The Ex, Dead C, Bodychoke, Bailter Space, etc, plus fanzines.

FIST FUN RECORDS (Jason Whittaker, 110 Renfrew Road, Ipswich, Suffolk IP4 3HJ) As well as distributing their own material, by Whiteslug, Bum Gravy and Masterbator magazine, at suitably affordable prices, Fist Fun will keep you in touch with those group's other activities: compilation appearances, live gigs etc.

FLATLAND (PO Box 2420, Fort Bragg, CA 95437-2420, USA) Flatland's "catalogue of unusual lore" is not unlike an American version of our own Counter Productions. My catalogue's a bit out of date but it includes all sorts of "essential" zines like Critique, Experimental Musical Instruments, N.D., Re/Search, Vague and much more; plus books and pamphlets from What Is Situationism? to The Orgone Accumulator Handbook. This edition of the catalogue also interviews Tom Vague and controversial AIDS researcher Dr. Alan Cantwell.

FOOL'S PARADISE (Robin T. Chuter) Now deceased tape label, which was a useful British equivalent of Germany's IRRE-Tapes, with over 30 cassettes and compilations featuring indie cassette artists (mostly), including names I recognise like Mþhr, factor X, Mission Papua Holland, Big City Orchestra and others.

FORCED EXPOSURE (PO Box 9102, Waltham, MA 02254-9102, USA) As well as producing a very fine zine, Forced Exposure run a mail-order service for hard-to-find goodies: free jazz, psychedelic, industrial noise, art-rock and much more. Featured labels include What Next, Matchless, RRRecords, Avant and Metamkine. They also have releases on their own label including names like Keiji Haino, Doc Wor Mirran, Skullflower and Borbetomagus.

FOURTH DIMENSION (PO Box 63, Herne Bay, Kent CT6 6YU) Fingers in enough pies to make an octopus jealous; Richo edits a zine (Grim Humour), is in bands(Splintered, Husk), runs a label and a mail-order service, and will (OK, might) be launching himself into book publishing some time in 1995. You can be sure the Fourth Dimension 7"s we review are sold out by now, but if you're into the noisiest end of post-hardcore rock, this is one possible source. But alongside people like Dead C, Ramleh and Null are more wayward souls such as Illusion of Safety, Ascension, Crawling With Tarts, Jim O'Rourke or Jorge Reyes. The label's own releases include Ascension, KK Null, Trance, Headbutt etc.

FRAGMENT (12 Alfred Road, Brentwood, Essex CM14 4BT) All the material on the Fragment label is by members of the band Erick: thus names like Moisten Before Use, Brian Field, Johann Kloos and Erixma all inter-relate in some way. They have 11 cassettes and one LP available, but there are plans for an Erick CD next year as well.

FREEK RECORDS (PO Box 3585, London NW3 3RH) Having difficulty finding those Freek albums by Ax, Ramleh, Total or Bodychoke in shops? Well, send them some money, then (£7.70 per CD in UK, £7.10 for an LP).

FROG PEAK MUSIC (Box 1052, Lebanon, NH 03766, USA) Also home for the American Gamelan Institute. A good place to go for admirers of Lou Harrison, making his books, scores and music available. Also recordings by Larry Polansky, Richard Lerman, Daniel Goode and others (just intonation, computer music, extended techniques etc). Plus Indonesian gamelan music and three CDs featuring some of Indonesia's most innovative composers.

FRONT DE L'EST (13, Rue Verrier Lebel, 80000 Amiens, FRANCE) This French mail order service stocks all sorts of magazines, t-shirts, vinyl, tapes and CDs from the hardbeat, industrial, new age, experimental and minimalist genres. The latest supplement to the Front de L'Est mail-order catalogue covers a whole load of industrial and experimental groups on labels like Staalplaat, Antler-Subway and Minus Habens, as well as rarities and hard-to-find material.

GENERAL PURPOSE CASSETTES (GPC Productions, PO Box 1515, Alientown, PA 18105-1515, USA) Who wouldn't want to live in a place called "Alientown"? GPC have released five cassettes of electronic / hardbeat / techno music, and one new CD by Non-Aggression Pact. Other groups featured on their split tapes include Factor 42, Sin Drome and Mentall & The Fixer. They seem to be committed to what their doing, and the quality thereof, and are interested in hearing from new musicians, artists or other contacts.

GUILFIN (PO Box 217, Guildford, Surrey GU2 6FF) One of several Free Information Networks around the country, they produce a packed monthly news-sheet with details of gigs, clubs and (mostly political) events. Reliable and admirable, they don't cover much improv, experimental or industrial musics, but they're a great model for what these genres really need.

HD-MAILORDER (PO Box, 8501 Eckental, Germany; phone 09123 / 988 401) I've put in the phone number because the address looks a little incomplete. This fuses the mail-order services of Hyperium / Hypnobeat and Dark Vinyl, and stocks a nice selection of EBM, industrial, and gothic musics from these two labels plus World Serpent, Silent, DOVe, Minus Habens and others. For people who wear a lot of black clothing.

HEART ACTION (NEW ADDRESS: PO Box 602, Milton Keynes MK6 3NN) Mail order service for radical, occultural and esoterical books. Authors from Artaud to Z'ev including plenty of Crowleyana, Anton Wilson, Re/Search etc. A nice complement to the Counter Productions catalogue.

HIVE-ARC (PO Box 3, Nuneaton CV10 9YT) Homebase for Martyn Bates, of the recently reformed Eyeless in Gaza. A background in experimental, indie pop, folk-derived song, and filmic instrumentals guarantees eclecticism; recent E.I.G. releases and Martyn's solo recordings can both be mail-ordered from here.

MATT HOWARTH (PO Box 28325, Philadelphia, PA 19149, USA) Matt is a prolific, stylish, crazed comics artist with taste for good music that runs throughout his creative work. Thus, as well as lots of bizarre comic books, he sells a few original cassettes of electronic music, and extremely useful fake 7" single covers and cassette inlay cards with no accompanying real music at all.

HYPERTONIA WORLD ENTERPRISES (c/o Jan R. Bruun, P.O. Box 4307, Nygårdstangen, N-5028 Bergen, NORWAY) Behind the grand-sounding name lurks another of the world's many indie cassette labels. Hypertonia covers all sorts of strange experimental stuff as well as poppy material. Plenty of the quirkiness that pervades such offbeat ventures. Also twelve cassettes of Charles Manson interviews, documentaries etc. Jan is also strongly committed to networking as an aim in itself, and so is a good contact for those interested in exploring the alternative cultural underspace.

HYPNAGOGIA RECORDS (NEW ADDRESS: 25 Humberstone Close, Leagrave, Luton, Bedfordshire LU4 9ST) Hypnagogia is now up to gog 02, their third release, a cassette by Runzelstirn and Gurgelstøck. On the way soon is a compilation CD Sky Flowers and Horse Eggs. Thoughtful packaging, conceptual recordings and cult noise a speciality.

IJK-TAPES (c/o Come Back, Kellengasse 7, 6900 Heidelberg 1, Germany) "A label for spoken words and eloquent noises" says the short flier/ catalogue. Surrealist cassettes of narrative (in German) and music.

IMPETUS (address omitted) Mail-order and distributor who don't pay their bills despite repeated requests. I'd suggest you avoid them like the plague.

IMPULSE (PO Box 101, Wymondham, Norfolk N18 0JU) Just to let you know that Impulse magazine also does a bit of the old mail order on the side, selling secondhand material by indie, electronic and industrial artists. The last list I saw included people like Muslimgauze, Zoviet France, Band of Holy Joy and Frank Sidebottom, for example. They also stock releases on their new label, Jara Discs, and other odds-n-sods such as the indispensable RRR-100 100-lock-groove 7" single. The same address is home to Noisebox Records, whose Mechanical Paradise CD features Toxic Frequency, Alpha Seven, Faceless and UXB.

INCUS (14 Downs Road, London E5 8DS) Founded in 1970, Incus is one of the best known improv labels. It now has 13 CDs available, and still some of its previous several dozen LPs. Most releases feature Derek Bailey, including his two solo guitar volumes, and several Company-related recordings are available..

INSANE MUSIC (c/o Alain Neffe, 2 Grand Rue, B-6190 Trazegnies, Belgium) One amongst the multitude of independent cassette labels to be found around the world. Insane is run by Alain Neffe and Nadine Bal, both of whom are also members of the groups Human Flesh and Bene Gesserit. So far, Insane has available over 33 compilations, plus cassettes and vinyl by various related bands. Amongst the more well-known people to appear on the compilations are Front Line Assembly, Portion Control, Legendary Pink Dots and Merzbow but there are probably hundreds more. Music veers from experimental through to rock, with a good smattering of the industrial but a particular taste for the humorous. Recommended. (Also see interview in EST #2).

IRRE-TAPES (Matthias Lang, Barendellstraße 35, 6795 Kindsbach, GERMANY) Last I heard, Irre-Tapes had suffered some legal hassles and were no longer in operation.Write for a free catalogue with over seventy independent cassettes, varying from skewhiff pop through to the extreme experimental scene. Better known artists include the likes of Nomuzic, If Bwana and Gregorian George, but there's plenty more here. "A non-commercial and unusual music". A reasonable introduction to the cassette scene.