Founded in: 2003, Washington, DC
Key Acts: Animal Collective, Panda Bear, Ariel Pink, Rings, Black Dice

Paw Tracks is the sister-label of Washington-based experimental imprint Carpark Records. Whilst Carpark sees to the day-to-day running of the label, all of its acts are signed by Animal Collective.

Paw Tracks was originally conceived solely as an outlet for releasing records by Animal Collective and associated projects.

Yet, after a run of AC-themed releases —Here Comes the Indian; Panda Bear's second solo album, Young Prayer; Panda side-project Jane— the label came into its own, in 2004, when it started re-releasing the home-made cassettes of lo-fi alchemist Ariel Pink.

Excavating Pink's warped 'Haunted Graffiti' series (The Doldrums in 2004, Worn Copy in 2005, House Arrest in 2006), Paw Tracks started to earn a reputation as attractors of oddball talent. Subsequent years found them working with old pals Black Dice, home-recording one-woman-band Tickley Feather, and, most notably, First Nation/Rings, a name-changing New Yorker trio featuring Abby Portner, sister of Animal Collective's Dave Portner (AKA: Avey Tare).

Paw Tracks' most successful release came in 2007, when they unleashed Panda Bear's third solo album, Person Pitch. Going beyond even Animal Collective's ever-growing fanbase, the record met with rapturous critical acclaim, being named Album of the Year by Pitchfork and appearing on dozens of year-end lists.

Paw Tracks' most recent signing is Dent May, a smooth crooner from Oxford, Mississippi. His debut album The Feel Good Music of Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele was released early in 2009.