add site
services
publishers
database
health videos
toolbar
stats
live show
health store
more stuff
JOIN/LOGIN
| advertise add site services publishers database health videos
| | about toolbar stats live show health store more stuff JOIN/LOGIN |
Spiral Staircase Stand (for Lotus Tealight Holders) Spiral Staircase... spabodyworkmarket.com | Spiral of Tranquility and Pendant version of the Spiral of Tranquility ivyrose.co.uk | Spiral computed tomography allenmd.com |
Spiral Tribe is a free party sound system which existed in the first half of the 1990s, and became active again in 2007. The collective originated in West London and later travelled across Europe and North America. According to one member, the name came to him when he was at work, staring at a poster of the interconnecting spirals in an ammonite shell.[1] The group had a huge influence on the emerging free tekno subculture. Members of the collective released seminal records on their label, Network 23.
[edit] History[edit] EnglandFrom 1990 until 1992, Spiral Tribe were responsible for numerous parties, raves and festivals[2] in indoor and outdoor locations. These mainly occurred in the south of England. The largest and most famous party the group organised was the Castlemorton Common Festival free party in May 1992. Thirteen members of the group were arrested immediately after the Castlemorton event and were subsequently charged with public order offences.[3] Their trial became one of the longest running and most expensive cases in British legal history, lasting four months and costing the UK tax payer £4 million. (1999:373)[4] Regarding Castlemorton, Nigel South states that "the adverse publicity attending the event laid the groundwork for the Criminal Justice Act 1994".[5] Low and Burnett opine in Spaces of Democracy that "Spiral Tribe, with their free and inclusive parties, succeeded in constituting an alternative public space, rather than just a secret one. Though no one could say how many lives were touched in their three year tour of duty". (2004:217)[6] [edit] Parties
[edit] EuropeIn March 1993, after being acquitted of all charges relating to Castlemorton, the group moved to Europe, doing parties in cities such as Rotterdam, Paris and Berlin. Over the next few years, the collective organised parties and teknivals throughout Europe, then it slowly dispersed with some members taking up residence in Germany and Holland and releasing work on Labworks and many other techno labels. Individual members of the collective joined other sound systems, did squat art events or pursued other interests. From the summer of 1994 a number of free parties were organised by Spiral Tribe members throughout Europe. When the parties were large festivals with an open invitation to other sound systems and artists to participate, they came to be known as teknivals. In tribute to this collective, the type of music predominantly played at early teknivals came to be known as spiral tekno. Parties included the following: [7][8]
[edit] United States of AmericaSome members of Spiral Tribe toured the United States of America in 1996 and were hosted by Pirate Audio and S.P.A.Z. Soundsystems on a coast-to-coast free tekno party tour. In 1997 Spiral Tribe toured America with an impressive rig and crew, joining forces once again with free party systems. They were instrumental in the initiation of the Autonomous Mutant Festival in July of that year, which continues to this day. The 13th Festival was held in 2009. [edit] Spiral Tribe members
The notion of member of the tribe was very informal; very quickly, numerous artists joined the initial four members, accompanying them on their trips, some for holidays only, others in a more long-lasting way. The public tended to consider every artist performing at one of their free parties a Spiral member. "Everyone can be a Spiral Tribe." (Mark Stormcore)
[edit] The number 23From its inception, the group was obsessed by the number 23. Images for musical releases, posters, backdrops and flyers featured the number 23. Parties were often organised on the twenty-third day of the month. Members sometimes recorded under the moniker of SP23, and the record label itself was called Network 23. Further information: 23 (numerology) [edit] MusicIn 1992, some members of the collective signed to the major label Big Life, as a result of the publicity generated from their involvement in the organisation of the Castlemorton Common Festival. Three EPs were released and two albums, one merely a compilation of the tracks from the EPs, the other a full album entitled Tekno Terra. Members of Spiral Tribe also released records on their own highly influential label Network 23. Simon Reynolds described music at a Spiral Tribe rave in 1992 as follows: "one Spiral-affiliated outfit plays a set of undanceably fast, stiffly regimented, metallic beats that sounds like ball bearings rattling around in a concrete pipe". (1999:172)[9] In 1997, Techno Import, a French commercial distributor, compiled a CD entitled Spiral Tribe: The Sound of Teknival. The CD consisted of previously licenced material via Big Life Music, Rabbit City, Drop Bass Network and Force Inc. It was released without any consent from members of Spiral Tribe, was advertised on television and sold at least 30,000 copies. Spiral Tribe issued a statement against its release which began, "F**k Techno Import, Spiral Tribe Is Not For Sale", and had to take quick action to ensure the name Spiral Tribe was not copyrighted by Techno Import. [edit] Discography[edit] 12" releases (in chronological order)
Note: They also released EP 23 No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 (World Domination Part 1, 2 and 3), as well as a few untitled promo CDs, but there is little documentation about these vinyls. [edit] Remixes
[edit] Tracks appear on
[edit] Quotations
[edit] Recent newsA DVD has been released called World Traveller Adventures, echoing the title of a track ("World Traveller Adventurer") on an early Spiral Tribe record, Forward the Revolution. One of the four films, 23 Minute Warning (the name taken from a track on another early Spiral Tribe record, Breach The Peace), features interviews with several members of the collective.[1] In 2005, the label Network 23 Repress was set up to rerelease sought-after and still-played tracks from the Spiral Tribe back catalogue. [edit] See also[edit] References
[edit] External links
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ↑ top of page ↑ | about thumbshots |
