Al Atkins

The Network Media Cooperative (Network Medien-Cooperative) was founded in October 1979 – by April 1990 we had already issued 19 titles, at the time as audio-cassettes with a comprehensive booklet in a small package that looked like a chocolate box. The covers and layouts were produced using Letraset on a light-table installed over a bath tub. Among those first records were the musical themes that were to preoccupy us for 30 years: an extensive document of the “Gypsies Music Festival”; meanwhile the music of the Roma has been documented on numerous Network CDs, including the anthology “Road of the Gypsies” (often copied but never achieving the same level). A double musíccasette packet was devoted to cult music from Haiti and the sounds and life philosophy of the Rastafarians in Jamaica. Recording trips were undertaken, among others, to Cuba, Trinidad, St. Lucia, and Curacao, but also to Latin America, Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia, Belize. We also approached the music worlds of Africa in our portrait of the South African pianist and vocalist Dollar Brand (today Abdullah Ibrahim) and in the first studio recordings of Soukous music. These were followed by trips to Liberia, Senegal, Mali, Tanzania, Zanzibar.

A Very Cool Christmas is a wonderful collection of all what Christmas has to offer, from the brilliant harmonies of The Temptations and the folk-rock of Leon Russell to the Beatpop of The Kinks and the soul voice from Marvin Gaye. This versatile record consists of both well-known Christmas songs performed by other artists than the famous versions and originals from the '50s until the present. Includes rockin' and groovin' Xmas songs from Billy Squier, Wizzard, Bryan Adams, The Kinks, Nicole Atkins, The Jackson 5, Carla Thomas, Louis Armstrong, Marvin Gaye, James Brown, B.B. King, The Temptations, Booker T & The MG's, and many more.

Various Artists - The Complete Goldwax Singles, Vol. 3 1967-1970 (2010) {2CD Set Ace Records CDCH2 1248}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 610 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 336 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 38 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1967-70, 2010 Goldwax / Ace Records | CDCH2 1248
R&B / Soul / Deep Soul

The third volume of the Goldwax singles is the story of music industry decline. If not exactly riches to rags – Goldwax sales were never that good – it is the tale of an independent label slowly losing its way in an increasingly difficult environment. This was not just about a failure to sign talent, but about changes within the business, and that meant that it became more difficult for regional independents to survive and thrive.

Pure…Country is a decent four-CD set highlighting 68 classic singles. Along with the original versions of radio favorites by Johnny Cash, George Jones, Willie Nelson, Ray Price, and Lynn Anderson are less than obvious inclusions by the Browns, Sylvia, and Little Jimmy Dickens.