Network 23 (record label)

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Network 23 was a record label founded by the Spiral Tribe sound system in 1994. It stopped in 1996.

Spiral Tribe free party sound system

Spiral Tribe, now known as SP23, are a musical and arts collective and former free party sound system, originating from West London and heavily active throughout the UK and Europe during the 1990s organising parties, festivals and raves. They are best known for their involvement in the infamous Castlemorton Common Festival.

Sound system (DJ) mobile sound system

A sound system is a group of DJs and audio engineers contributing and working together as one, playing and producing music over a large PA system or sound reinforcement system, typically for a dance event or party.

1994 in music Overview of the events of 1994 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1994.

Contents

History

In two years Network 23 released a number of records by members of Spiral Tribe under various aliases such as R-Zac, Stormcore, SP23, and Crystal Distortion. The Spiral Tribe sound came to be known as free tekno, also referred to as spiral hardcore, French hardcore and enimatek. The label also brought out records by invited artists such as Curley, Somatic Responses, Unit Moebius, Headcleaner and Les Boucles Etranges.

Influences

The first ten records were pressed at MZM in the Czech Republic since the company offered the cheapest price, but the sound quality is low. Nevertheless, most of these records have become classics, selling at a high price on auction sites. Some tracks are still played at parties 10–20 years after they were made. In an indication of the popularity of the label, in 2005 a new label, Network Repress was set up to rerelease hard to find classic tracks alongside new or unreleased music by the same artists. So far eight releases have been brought out, six by SP23, one by Crystal Distortion and one by Ixindamix.

Czech Republic Country in Central Europe

The Czech Republic, also known by its short-form name, Czechia, is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west, Austria to the south, Slovakia to the east and Poland to the northeast. The Czech Republic has a landlocked and hilly landscape that covers an area of 78,866 square kilometers (30,450 sq mi) with a mostly temperate continental climate and oceanic climate. It is a unitary parliamentary republic, with 10.6 million inhabitants. Its capital and largest city is Prague, with 1.3 million residents; other major cities are Brno, Ostrava, Olomouc and Pilsen.

Techno Import controversy

In 1997, commercial distributors Techno Import released a CD entitled Spiral Tribe The Sound of Teknival. The CD was advertised on television and sold at least 30,000 copies. Techno Import actually registered the word teknival as a trade name. Spiral Tribe members were not informed of this decision until the CD was already produced. They released flyers which began F**k Techno Import and stated Spiral Tribe is not for sale. Network 23 made all songs available as free downloads on their website.

Teknivals are large free parties which take place worldwide. They take place most often in Europe and are often illegal under various national or regional laws. They vary in size from dozens to thousands of people, depending on factors such as accessibility, reputation, weather, and law enforcement. The parties often take place in venues far away from residential areas such as squatted warehouses, empty military bases, beaches, forests or fields. The teknival phenomenon is a grassroots movement which has grown out of the rave, punk, reggae sound system and UK traveller scenes and spawned an entire subculture. Summer is the usual season for teknivals.

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<i>Max Headroom</i> (TV series) television series

Max Headroom is an American satirical science fiction television series by Chrysalis Visual Programming and Lakeside Productions for Lorimar-Telepictures that aired in the United States on ABC from March 1987 to May 1988. The series is set in a futuristic dystopia ruled by an oligarchy of television networks.

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