Twisted Chords

Twisted Chords was a German independent record label based in Karlsruhe. It began in 1996 as a cassette label and issued its first compact disc in May 1996, going on to release music across punk, hardcore punk, Deutschpunk, screamo, crust punk, hip-hop and ska. The label was defined less by a single genre than by an ethos: it sought to give a platform above all to politically engaged artists, and its advertising slogan was 'More than Music'. Releases included records by Amen 81, Chaoze One, Das Flug, duesenjaeger, Guérilla, MDC, Rifu, Rogue Steady Orchestra, Sin Dios, Ya Basta! and many other politically committed musicians. Not every band had to be political, but the management cared about 'the political-social attitude, the music and the lyrics and the people'. After small-run cassette samplers, Twisted Chords published its first CD in May 1996 by the Karlsruhe local band Simuinasiwo. Further releases, mainly by local bands and some samplers, followed before the label began taking on international acts. In its early years the label worked exclusively through its own distribution, until distribution contracts were concluded in 2003–2005 with Broken Silence Distribution (Germany/Austria/Switzerland), Sonic Rendezvous (Benelux) and Cargo Music (USA). Twisted Chords placed the greatest value on being musically open and not committing itself to a single (sub-)genre. Most releases came from punk and hardcore, while others came from ska and hip-hop, such as releases by the Mannheim rapper Chaoze One or the French ska band Ya Basta!. With the Spanish hardcore-punk band Sin Dios, Twisted Chords released two albums; the business relationship failed over an unreflective text about the Middle East conflict in which Jews were described as child murderers. At the end of the 1990s a mail order was added, through which, alongside the label's own releases, other records as well as T-shirts, buttons, patches and books could be bought. The mail-order list, initially issued on paper, was replaced by a web shop in 2002. Twisted Chords also initiated concerts, tours and so-called label parties. The first label parties took place from 1997 at the Karlsruhe venue Ex-Steffi and were repeated at irregular intervals and changing venues. In 2006, for the label's 10th anniversary, a CD sampler looking back at its beginnings was released and a tour was organised with the bands Guérilla, Chaoze One and Lütten. In autumn and winter 2008 the idea of the label tour was taken up again, when several bands played a total of seven dates in Hamburg, Berlin, Schwäbisch Gmünd, Ludwigsburg, Höhr-Grenzhausen, Leverkusen and Frankfurt. A continuation followed from September to December 2009, with a two-day closing festival in Rastatt (Baden-Württemberg). At the end of 2021 the label announced that it would cease operations in 2022 for economic, organisational and personal reasons. The official website records the period '1996-2023' and states that the Twisted Chords shop went offline on 1 September 2023, with a website featuring the label's discography and history to be created in the foreseeable future. The label's legacy is documented on Discogs and in the German Wikipedia.

Twisted Chords began in 1996 as a cassette label in Karlsruhe, Germany. After releasing a few small-run cassette samplers, it published its first compact disc in May 1996 by the Karlsruhe local band Simuinasiwo. Further releases, mainly by local bands and some samplers, followed before the label began taking on international acts. There are various accounts of the origin of the name 'Twisted Chords'; among other things, a record by the Hamburg group Rubbermaids bears the same title. In an interview with the Plastic Bomb fanzine, however, the operators maintain that they only became aware of the Rubbermaids record after founding the label. In its early years the label worked exclusively through its own distribution, until distribution contracts were concluded in 2003–2005 with Broken Silence Distribution (Germany/Austria/Switzerland), Sonic Rendezvous (Benelux) and Cargo Music (USA). Twisted Chords placed the greatest value on being musically open and not committing itself to a single (sub-)genre. Most of the label's releases came from punk and hardcore, while other releases came from ska and hip-hop, such as releases by the Mannheim rapper Chaoze One or the French ska band Ya Basta!. With the Spanish hardcore-punk band Sin Dios, Twisted Chords released two albums; the business relationship failed over an unreflective text about the Middle East conflict in which Jews were described as child murderers. At the end of the 1990s a mail order was added, through which, alongside the label's own releases, other records as well as T-shirts, buttons, patches and books could be bought. The mail-order list, initially issued on paper, was replaced by a web shop in 2002. Twisted Chords also initiated concerts, tours and so-called label parties. The first label parties took place from 1997 at the Karlsruhe venue Ex-Steffi and were repeated at irregular intervals and changing venues. In 2006, for the label's 10th anniversary, a CD sampler looking back at its beginnings was released and a tour was organised with the bands Guérilla, Chaoze One and Lütten. In autumn and winter 2008 the idea of the label tour was taken up again, when several bands played a total of seven dates in Hamburg, Berlin, Schwäbisch Gmünd, Ludwigsburg, Höhr-Grenzhausen, Leverkusen and Frankfurt. A continuation followed from September to December 2009, with a two-day closing festival in Rastatt (Baden-Württemberg). At the end of 2021 the label announced that it would cease operations in 2022 for economic, organisational and personal reasons. The official website records the period '1996-2023' and states that the Twisted Chords shop went offline on 1 September 2023, with a website featuring the label's discography and history to be created in the foreseeable future. The label's legacy is documented on Discogs and in the German Wikipedia.

• 2023

  The Twisted Chords shop goes offline on 1 September 2023.

• 2021

  At the end of 2021 the label announces it will cease operations in 2022.

• 2009

  Label tour continuation from September to December, with a two-day closing festival in Rastatt.

• 2008

  Label tour with several bands playing seven dates in Hamburg, Berlin, Schwäbisch Gmünd, Ludwigsburg, Höhr-Grenzhausen, Leverkusen and Frankfurt.

• 2006

  10th anniversary: a CD sampler looking back at the label's beginnings is released and a tour is organised with Guérilla, Chaoze One and Lütten.

• 2003

  Distribution contracts concluded with Broken Silence Distribution (D/A/CH), Sonic Rendezvous (Benelux) and Cargo Music (USA) during 2003–2005.

• 2002

  The paper mail-order list is replaced by a web shop.

• 1997

  First label parties take place at the Karlsruhe venue Ex-Steffi.

• 1996

  Twisted Chords begins as a cassette label in Karlsruhe.

• 1996

  First compact disc released, by the Karlsruhe local band Simuinasiwo.

Independent, politically engaged label spanning punk, hardcore, ska and hip-hop under the slogan 'More than Music'.

• Sin Dios releases

  Two albums released with the Spanish hardcore-punk band Sin Dios.

• Chaoze One releases

  Releases by the Mannheim rapper Chaoze One.

• Ya Basta! releases

  Releases by the French ska band Ya Basta!.

• Label samplers

  Samplers including a CD sampler for the 10th anniversary in 2006.

• Merchandise

  T-shirts, buttons, patches and books sold via mail order.

1. 1Twisted Chords - Label.Onlinestoretwisted-chords.de
2. 2Twisted Chords - Wikidatawikidata.org
3. 3Twisted Chords - Wikipedia (German)de.wikipedia.org
4. 4Twisted Chords - Discogsdiscogs.com