Charnel Music
Charnel Music is an independent record label devoted to putting out eclectic and improvisational music. The label was formed in 1988 by Mason Jones as "Charnel House"[1] and had initially released works by his band Trance. The label's name later changed to "Charnel Music,"[1] and went on to release music by influential acts such as Melt Banana, Merzbow, and The Pain Teens. Charvel is one of the first independent labels that focused on noise music and music from Japan.
History
Charnel's first release was Trance's Fatal Blow on cassette. More cassettes releases from Trance as well as other local San Francisco groups followed. The label focused on other projects after the release of the Arrhythmia CD compilation in 1990.[1]
Charnel released music from up-and-coming as well as bands that already possessed a cult following (such as the Pain Teens). For the next eight years, releases by acts such as Gravitar, Crash Worship, and Jones' own SubArachnoid Space had followed. The label also put out releases by Japanese bands such as Melt Banana and Fushitsusha, and compiled a three-part Land of the Rising Noise series that featured all Japanese bands.
Charnel had two sub-labels. The first was Document and Eyewitness, whose sole release was P. Children's Documentation 1987-1992. The other was Circular Reasoning, which was formed in 1995 and put out albums such as Tel Basta's Lickerish and the groundbreaking Bohemian Special by The Gay Barbarians and/or the Jaurwars.
Charnel ceased their operations in 1999 and was briefly resurrected in 2007 for the CDR releases of Mason Jones' Unreleased Themes For Caged Heat 3000 and Numinous Eyes' The Farthest Thing.[1] The label is currently on an indefinite hiatus.[2]