Captured Tracks (Brooklyn, NY)

Beginning in a Brooklyn basement in 2008, Captured Tracks has gone on to change the face of music across America. One of the most prolific and consistent independent labels has produced huge artists from Mac DeMarco to DIIV to Wild Nothing alongside other acts like Perfect Pussy, EZTV, Reptaliens and Mourn whilst reissuing influential British artists like The Monochrome Set & Cleaners From Venus. The bands may differ but they share a pop sensibility - even if it is clouded by the influences they bear - that can only be the result of label boss Mike Sniper's taste for it.

Previous to Captured Tracks, Sniper ran a power pop label. You can never accuse Widowspeak or Beach Fossils of being power pop, but they are not adverse to an infectious hook or a clean, sweet sound. The B Boys certainly know how to turn on the pop with last year's fantastic album Dada, full to the brim with color and energy.

But Sniper wants a broad church. Grunge revisionist, Chastity is a perfect example - as well as Gift Wrap, Wax Chattels and Matteo Vallicelli. Captured Tracks is no sub-genre label, it is the fruit of the passion and perseverance of a global collective of music lovers.