2025 brought a number of album releases that kept us grooving from January until now. But there was so much new music released this year that it is nearly impossible to enjoy it all…or even to know where to start.
WAMU arts and culture reporter Darryl C. Murphy paid a visit to some of the D.C. region’s top record stores to find out what new albums from 2025 topped their favorites list, as well as some local acts to look out for in 2026.
HR Records (702 Kennedy Street NW, Washington, D.C.)
This rare vinyl shop in Brightwood Park offers jazz, soul, reggae, and more. The HR stands for Home Rule, and they’re the folks behind the annual Home Rule Music Festival.
Co-owner Charvis Campbell says his favorite new release of 2025 comes from Baltimore jazz trumpeter Brandon Woody and is their debut album “For the Love of it All” on Blue Note Records.
“I’ve played the album nonstop from start to finish several times,” says Campbell. “I get the sense that he’s somewhat struggled, but yet he’s kind of risen out of that struggle. And to a large degree when I look at the work that we do in the community at HR Records, it’s really just about that, really making sure that those voices that aren’t heard really get to be listened to and appreciated while they’re here.”
As for local artists to watch out for in 2026, Campbell says to keep an eye on Reesa Renee.
The singer, who once described her sound as “…if Jill Scott and Pharrell had a baby, and Chuck Brown was the godfather,” put out an album in 2024 called “Don’t Be Broken 4Eva” and released the singles “Wusgoinon” and “So Stuck On You” in 2025.
Fireplace Records (4344 Farragut St, Hyattsville, MD)
Anthony “Gadget” Mims co-owns the shop, which he says got its start when a group of collectors came together to sell records from their own collections.
Mim’s favorite album of 2025 pick is “Cabin in the Sky” from De La Soul. It’s their first album after the 2023 death of one the group’s two emcees, Dave (aka Trugoy the Dove, aka Plug 2.) Now, emcee Posdnuos and DJ Maseo carry on in his honor.
“I’m probably the same age as Pos,” says Mims. “So I think a lot of things that he raps about I could relate to. Like being someone over fifty, you know what I mean? And still loving hip hop… A lot of stuff just hit me personally because I could understand, and some of the things that he talked about I went through.”
A local artist Mims suggests to look out for in 2026: Let The Dirt Say Amen. It’s the solo pursuit of emcee Tim Hicks from DC hip-hop group The Cornel West Theory. With his recent album “Contracts over Contacts,” Let The Dirt Say Amen brings unfiltered hip-hop with vivid bars and raw beats.
Som Records (1843 14th St NW, Washington, D.C.)
Neal Becton’s basement record store in Cardozo will celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2026. “I haven’t figured it out yet, but yeah, we’ll do something,” he says of the upcoming anniversary.
His pick for favorite album of 2025 comes from Brazilian artist Sessa. The album is called “Pequena Vertigem de Amor”. Becton describes the album as “very atmospheric,” “groovy,” “kinda jazzy,” and “a little psychedelic.”
“It just puts me in a good place. It’s got just a really nice warm vibe to it. Especially listening to it in the winter. It’s cold outside. It makes me think of warmer places,” says Becton. “I lived in Mexico for three years when I was a little kid and I kinda think I miss the tropics. [I] always wanna end up living in the tropics someday. So, maybe that’s what it is.”
Becton’s local act to watch next year is Des Demonas, a D.C. band that fuses punk, post-punk, Afro beat and more. Their most recent album “Apocalyptic Boom! Boom!” dropped late in 2024. The band is currently touring and scheduled to perform in Wilmington, Del. and Charlottesville, Va. in January.
Joint Custody (1530 U St NW, Washington, D.C.)
Joint Custody has been around since 2011 and sells vinyl as well as vintage clothes.
Staff member Ambrose Nzams has been with Joint Custody “since day one,” and says his favorite new album of 2025 is “The Passionate Ones” by Nourished By Time.
“I really like how he writes songs in a very kind of blunt and direct way,” said Nzams. “There’s so much style, but not a lot of tongue-in-cheekness… It’s just straightforward, you know? I mean, it’s truly passionate. It’s awesome. He’s the best.”
Ambrose’s local pick is a very new band called Unlimited (formerly Comm Unlimited).
“It’s actually kind of funny, because a lot of them work here or have worked here,” he says. “I have a lot of friends in a lot of bands and some of them aren’t so good and this one is great.”
Crooked Beat Records (2417 Mt. Vernon Avenue, Alexandria, VA)
Crooked Beats Records has been around since 1997, but has been in Alexandria’s Del Ray neighborhood since 2023.
Assistant manager Kourtney Pompi says Tame Impala’s “Deadbeat” is her album pick for 2025.
“It lifts my mood, it’s got enough of a groove that half the time I’m dancing behind the counter,” she says. “Every time I’ve played it here in the store, we’ve been able to sell a couple copies at a time.”
The local act to watch out for in 2026, Pompi says, is the indie rock band Velocity Girl, that’s set to re-release their 1994 sophomore album ¡Simpatico!.
The post Five D.C. area record shops and their favorite new albums from 2025 appeared first on WAMU.
Published Date : 2025-12-22 21:29:00
Source : wamu.org
