Favorite Independent Record Labels #9 - Merciful Release

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#9 in my Favorite Independent Record Labels series is a very small label, yet I've enjoyed their output for many, many years now: Merciful Release. Merciful Release was founded in the early 1980's by Sisters of Mercy vocalist Andrew Eldritch as a way to release the band's singles. And they released a lot of them (most of which eventually ended up on the Sisters Some Girls Wander by Mistake compilation.) Merciful Release has, however, occasionally put out singles, and sometimes full albums by other bands. There are a couple of really good singles by The March Violets out there, as well as a couple by Salvation. You'll also find Gift, the album from Eldritch's one off side project, The Sisterhood, on Merciful Release. Sisterhood vocalist James Ray in particular has benefited from the label, which has released several records by James Ray and the Performance, James Ray's Gangwar, and Ray's project MK Ultra. Unfortunately, that's about it. As I said, Merciful Release is a small label. Their website has been "under construction" for years now, and there really isn't a lot of information about them out there. But for such a small endeavor, they have released a lot of great music over the years. (Info verified by Wikipedia)