NPR Music - New Music Friday: Record Store Day Black Friday 2025

Episode Date: November 28, 2025

There's 177 new special edition physical releases out today, so go support your local music purveyor. On this abbreviated version of 'New Music Friday,' host Stephen Thompson shares a taste of what's waiting for you.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Happy Friday, everyone from NPR Music. It's New Music Friday. I'm your host, Stephen Thompson. It's a special abbreviated Black Friday edition of New Music Friday, and I say abbreviated because November 28th is not a huge day for new music releases. But it is record store day, and I want to encourage anyone listening to head out to their local independent record store and see what they've got on hand. But before we get started, we're just going to take one quick break. So to kick things off, I want to briefly mention a new album that is out today and is available on vinyl at various record store day locations. It's by Jesse Sykes and The Suite Hereafter, their first album since 2011. It's called Forever I've Been Being Born.

Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter has been around for more than 20 years, playing bluesy, hauntsy, haremble. noirish music that's also got a big beating heart. The new record was many years in the making. It features lots of bonus contributions from the great Marissa Nadler. Honestly, it's just a joy to hear Jesse Sykes's voice again after such a long time. For those who don't know record store day, it's been around since 2008 as a way of encouraging fans to keep their local independently owned record stores alive. It happens twice a year.

and to encourage listeners to participate, they put out a bunch of record store day exclusives. For this run, there are 177 official titles, give or take. Most of those titles are for collectors. There's a heavy emphasis on vinyl, on live albums, picture discs, other collectibles. Some are obscure, some are newly back in print, and a few of them are by huge stars. It's a lot of oddities, which is part of the fun.

Like, maybe you're a Kesha fan like I am. Maybe you've heard her cover Lindsay Buckingham's Holiday Road from National Lampoon's vacation. Well, on Records Store Day, you can buy one of a limited run of seven-inch singles containing that song. You can find exclusive record store day releases by huge stars. Post Malone has had several Records Store Day exclusives in the past. He's got a new one this year. Billy Elish has a live EP on vinyl with a print run of 20,000. That's actually a lot for record store day.

Chapel Roan's newest singles, The Subway and The Giver will be on an exclusive 7-inch with a total run of 30,000 copies. But the young superstars are just trying to get people's foot in the door. There are also classic archival recordings. You can find Talking Heads demos, Randy Newman demos, old Dwight Yoakam albums on vinyl.

There's a reissue of a dead Milkman record that rewired my brain in the 80s. Speaking of having your brain rewired, Miles Davis live in 1965, you know, plus newer live albums by artists like The Flaming Lips and Fred again, both of whom are really great live. But honestly, the best thing about record store day is just having an extra reason to treat yourself to a local treasure. Maybe you visit your local record store all the time, but maybe you could use a reminder. Maybe you're listening to this on Black Friday in the thought of hitting a big box

retailer has you feeling queasy. I promise you, this will cleanse your palate. And if you'll allow me the indulgence, I have to shout out a few participating stores that nurtured my love of music when I was becoming an obsessive fan way back when. Radio Chaos in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, about 20 miles from where I grew up. B-side Records in Mad City Music Exchange in Madison, Wisconsin. These are wonderful record stores. They helped shape and nurture my love of music in the 80s and 90s when I was a teenager. And they're still open. They're still participating in record store day today. If you want to see a full list of which stores are participating, or if you want to see a full list of record store day exclusives, visit recordstoreday.com. Anyway, that is our

show for this holiday week. If you enjoyed it, we always appreciate a positive review. on Apple or Spotify or whatever app you're listening to right now. This episode was produced by Noah Caldwell and edited by Otis Hart. The executive producer of NPR music is Soraya Mohamed. We'll be back next week to discuss a big batch of new music with Aaron Wolfe at Radio Milwaukee. Always happy to throw in one more reference to my beloved home state of Wisconsin. GoPack Go.

Until then, take a moment to be well. Grab yourself just a little bit of quiet time away from fans. and treat yourself to lots of great music.