Captured Tracks is closely tied to a certain Brooklyn sound: hazy guitars, warm home studio production and a love of older records. It is also a label that kept evolving, adding harmony pop, art rock and bold new songwriters to its roster. This guide gives you eight albums that show where Captured Tracks came from and how wide it has become.
Here is a short history of the label and eight records that make a strong first listen.
A short history of Captured Tracks
The label's about page says Captured Tracks was founded in 2008 by Mike Sniper in Brooklyn. Its roster has included Wild Nothing, The Soft Moon, Beach Fossils, Mac DeMarco, DIIV and Craft Spells, alongside newer artists such as The Lemon Twigs, Becca Mancari, GIFT, THUS LOVE, Drahla and girlpuppy.
The catalog now runs past 300 releases. Early on, the label became known for a dreamy, guitar based sound, but its later signings show a wider taste that still values strong melodies and records with personality. Many titles are also sold on physical formats through the label's own store.
8 essential Captured Tracks albums
1. Wild Nothing: Gemini
Wild Nothing is the first name the label lists on its about page, which makes it a natural place to begin. Gemini was released by Captured Tracks in May 2010, just two years after the label started, and it is sold on LP, CD and cassette through the label store. Put it on first to hear what Captured Tracks sounded like in its early years.
2. Wild Nothing: Nocturne
Nocturne followed on Captured Tracks in August 2012, and like Gemini it is available on LP, CD and cassette from the label store. Hearing the two back to back is the quickest way to follow Wild Nothing through the label's first big run. Together they make a strong first pair from the catalog, and a good test of whether the early Captured Tracks sound is for you.
3. Mac DeMarco: 2
The label calls 2 a concerted effort to show Mac DeMarco's skill as a songwriter, singer and producer. With new recording gear, the sound is clearer than his earlier releases without losing their easy, organic feel. Released in October 2012, it is the friendliest door into the label and the record that set up everything that came next.
4. Mac DeMarco: Salad Days
Salad Days, his second full-length, was written and recorded around a relentless tour schedule. Songs like "Passing Out Pieces," with its overdriven organ, and the synth led "Chamber of Reflection" widen his sound while keeping the lush, homegrown production. Listen to it after 2 to hear an artist growing up in public.
5. DIIV: Oshin
After a US tour with Beach Fossils, Cole Smith wrote the songs for DIIV's debut Oshin in a painter's studio in Bushwick with no running water. Surrounded by records and books, he built music the label describes as cavernous and enveloping. It is the essential guitar haze record on Captured Tracks.
6. Molly Burch: Romantic Images
Molly Burch wrote most of Romantic Images in the months before her 30th birthday. Recorded in Denver with Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley producing, it embraces bright, well crafted pop, and Burch worked with more women collaborators than ever before. It shows the label's pop side at its most joyful.
7. The Lemon Twigs: Everything Harmony
Brothers Brian and Michael D'Addario make up The Lemon Twigs. Everything Harmony, their fourth album, offers 13 original songs built on vocal harmonies, strings and horns, all written, produced and mixed by the brothers. It is a lush, carefully made record for anyone who loves classic songcraft.
8. Drahla: angeltape
Leeds art rock group Drahla returned five years after their 2019 debut Useless Coordinates with angeltape. Recorded in 2023, it avoids standard melodic structures and leans into uncertainty, with saxophone, piano and angular guitars. It shows how far the label has traveled from its dreamy early sound.
Where to go next
After these eight, explore the rest of the roster the label lists: The Soft Moon for dark electronics, Beach Fossils and Craft Spells for more early Brooklyn guitar pop, and Becca Mancari, GIFT and THUS LOVE for newer voices. The Captured Tracks about page is the best place to see the full list.
The easiest way to hear the label's story is in order. Start with Wild Nothing and Mac DeMarco from the early 2010s, move to DIIV, then jump ahead to Molly Burch, The Lemon Twigs and Drahla. You will hear a label that kept its love of melody while letting each new artist push in a different direction.
It also helps to think about format. Many Captured Tracks titles, including the Wild Nothing and DIIV records above, are offered on LP, CD and cassette through the label store, so you can build a small shelf that matches how you listen. Vinyl suits the warm, layered production of the early records, while cassettes fit the home studio spirit the label grew from. Whatever the format, start with two records from different eras, then let the roster lead you to the next one.
How to start listening
- For dreamy early indie: Gemini, then Nocturne.
- For laid back songwriting: 2, then Salad Days.
- For guitar haze: Oshin.
- For bright pop and harmonies: Romantic Images, then Everything Harmony.
- For art rock: angeltape.
Buying from the label store is the most direct way to support Captured Tracks and its artists.
For more label paths, see our shoegaze starter guide, our Sacred Bones guide, our Mexican Summer guide and our Polyvinyl guide. More collectible records live in our vinyl and reissues hub.
