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Monday, January 7, 2008
'The Future Belongs to Analog Loyalists. Fuck Digital.'
- Big Black
 [tws]
Orpheus Records is closing in a couple months. Whether or not you heard it here first, or even if you live anywhere near
Arlington or not, this should mean something to you. “Barefoot” Rick Carlisle broke the news to me last weekend while I stopped
by for my usual browse and splurge. For those of you who haven’t had the fortune of shopping at Orpheus, let me break it down
like this. Between Rick and his colleague Carl, you’ll find no two guys in the DC metro area with a more encyclopedic knowledge
of their inventory or their customers. Both are passionate music fans, of course (I believe that Carl knows more about Frank
Zappa than Frank Zappa did), but to keep a vinyl-specialty store with as deep of an inventory as Orpheus open in the face
of as much adversity as it encountered is pretty remarkable.  Twenty-two years after opening the shop in Georgetown in 1977, Rick moved to Clarendon to escape the neighborhood’s politics
and the increasingly suffocating real estate vortex. Now, ironically, those same things have chased him out to Clarendon and
are sending the entire area straight to hell. The real estate crunch is devouring my whole area of Arlington and spitting
out shitty, overpriced condos for yuppies who don’t even buy CD’s anymore much less records. Aside from that, it feels like
many don’t eat anywhere but places like the Cheesecake Factory, and don’t shop anywhere but Barnes & Noble or Whole Foods,
all of which are readily available within 4 blocks of where Orpheus currently stands. I know I’m generalizing, since I’m technically
one of them and I usually avoid all of those things, but there’s a reason those companies flourish, and this is my rant. Cut
me some slack, here. I’m already about to watch Dr. Dremo’s, one of the coolest bars I’ve ever entered, come down right down
the street for the same general reasons. So, why that caustic Steve Albini quote at the beginning? Why analog format?
Because I, like many people in my generation, have realized that digital is not the best format for music, despite the last
25 years of successful marketing and gimmickry from the Sony Corporation, et. al. Such conglomerates spent billions of dollars,
man-hours, and all of those years trying to move us into the digital age, but then created products that have made digital
media increasingly ephemeral. You can rip a copy of a CD in seconds now. MP3s, which splice out a number of frequencies from
the original hi-fi recordings, are standard fare given the internet’s pivotal role in music distribution now. To me, records
are and will always be more permanent. I agree with the Slackers’ Vic Ruggiero that the only way to end this “rash” of music
piracy is to “just go back to analog, man!” I’m going to miss this shop. I suppose I’ll eat at the Middle Eastern
restaurant a block over from it occasionally, until the developers buy that place out, too. It’s fairly depressing walking
by a string of abandoned storefronts on the way to Orpheus, but for a store as good as they have been to stick it out in an
increasingly indifferent world is something to admire. If it weren’t for High Fidelity, many people wouldn’t even know
that bona fide record shops still existed outside of Greenwich Village. So, unless there’s something quasi-superhuman
you can do to stem the real estate tide in Arlington, at least give some love to the analog movement. You’ll be surprised
how much you’ll have, even as a casual collector, digging out random crap from the dollar-bin. If you don’t own a record player,
BUY ONE. Orpheus has some for sale, and you can buy nice new ones uptown at Crooked Beat Records or pretty much anywhere online.
Be comforted by the knowledge that your record collection will never crash, or even become obsolete. Hopefully, places like
Orpheus never will, either. Orpheus Records is located at 3171 Wilson Blvd in Arlington, across the street from the Clarendon Metro. They’re
open M-Sat from 12-10pm, and 1-8pm on Sunday.
Mon, January 7, 2008 | link
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Saturday, August
9th LAUGHING LIZARD COMEDY SHOWCASE 10pm, 21+ 1324 King St, Alexandria Lineup
TBA! Stay tuned for updates.
Saturday, August 16 RIFIFI COMEDY SHOW @
TBD. The location at 11th St has bitten the dust so my friend Jake is looking to find a new spot. Stay tuned. Wednesday,
September 3 THE FAMILY HEMERLEIN @ THE PALACE
OF WONDERS **DJ SET** 9 pm I'll be helping out my friend Matt Hemerlein's family band's
variety show on the tail end, but definitely come out early. You don't want to miss this. Site. 1210 H St. NE, DC Friday and Saturday, November 14 & 15. ARLINGTON CINEMA & DRAFTHOUSE w/ Paul F Tompkins!! $18 or so. This was the
show rescheduled from 7/25-26. Hope you see you out! Sorry for any confusion. Website. 2903 Columbia Pike, Arlington, VA
Check out TDC on... Thanks to Josh!
Sign the Guestbook! (It's been there for some time, but seriously, sign it).
 Watch the video for Wes Mann's "If Only You Knew" right here! THROUGH THE WASHWhat happens to common appliances and gadgets mistakenly go through the wash and dry cycle? Do they come out alive?
Check out this handy site, with appearances from myself, Jake, and Aparna. Hosted by Chris and filmed my Joe "the man"
Deeley.
MUZAK!?Listings coming soon. Once I have some damn time. IF
YOU LIVE IN THE DC AREA, HAVE A SOUL, AND ENJOY GOOD LIVE COMEDY, I highly recommend these weekly/biweekly shows. MONDAY11TH ST. LOUNGE First and third mondays of every month. It's
intimate, friendly, and the servers upstairs are fine. Even an audience of 10 non-comics can whip the place into a frenzy.
Hosted by Lou Giglio, or Bart Voisin if he couldn't escape the calling. Oh Highland Dr, right across from the Clarendon
Grill.
SPY LOUNGE Eli "the man" Sairs and Tyler "da man" Richardson run this
open mic at a bizarrely posh but still fun place right in the heart of Adam's Morgan, on 18th St. Starts around 8pm.
CHIEF IKE'S MAMBO ROOM Run by the luminaries behind DCC4N. On Columbia Rd. right north of that intersection
in Adams-Morgan.TUESDAYNema is gone, but info about Takoma Station and the Library
(both in Northeast) coming soon.
Wiseacre's happens on this night, out in Tyson's.WEDNESDAYWiseacres will always be there, hopefully, out in Tyson's.
DR. DREMO'S IS DEAD. LONG LIVE DR. DREMO'S. THURSDAYCollege Perk First and third Thursday of every month, this is probably
the most fun you'll have at an open mic in the area. Maybe because it's a college hangout with a liquor license. 9078
Baltimore Avenue, College Park, MD BLOG HIGHLIGHT INDEX LOST VINYL CLASSICS - The Korean Orphan Choir...on tour!- Richard Simmons' illustrious recording career- The Magic of Chet Parker and that Hammer Dulcimer- The Magic of Jesse JohnsonSHORT FILM SHOWCASE - Georgetown Cabaret 2007 Teaser- Greg Pahanish: Professional Comedian [TEASER]- Don't Fuck with Joe Deeley- Into the Leaves!- Tag: The MovieINTERVIEWS - Bobby Vandell- Ted Leo- On the Dead Milkmen (w/ Thoughts from Joe Jack Talcum)MUSIC, ETC. - Pixies, bitch!- Ska is still Awesome- The Official Summer 06 Mix- Minutemen: One of the All-Time Greatest American Bands, now on DVD!- On Erasure and other Gay Delights (but mostly Erasure)- Living Too Late: A 2-Part Rumination- The Best Things Never Said Onstage- Sondre Lerche and The Spinto Band- Top 60 Punk Bands- The Guided By Voices drinking game!- God is pissed at Stapp!- Two Theories on Poison (the band)CULTURE/COMEDY - On "the Suck"- Laughing Lizard Showcase's One Year Anniversary!- On Viacom's battle with YouTube - The Ted Healy Suck Awards- George Thorogood = Zima Drinker?- Mitch Hedberg Tribute: One Year Later- Norwegian death metal aka the stupidest thing ever written- The Unseen Danger of Video GamesMOVIES - TWS on the American Hardcore Documentary- Spinal Tap and its importance to our generation Part One Part TwoPart Three- The TDC take on "A Christmas Story"- SPORTS - On San Fermin and Bullfighting- Love from CT and the Hartford Whalers- The Washington Capitals are AwesomeSPECIAL GUEST COLUMNS Alex Kain - To Those Who Blame Video Games for Anything- Alex's Gift for Uwe Boll!- On "Cube!"Tyler Richardson - If I could, i would...- What makes Tyler Richardson happy?- Those Risks in Everyday LifeJermaine Fowler - Jermaine on his Idol/Nemesis Tony DeNikos- Tony fakes his own death!- Denikos: the Final Chapter Adam Crowley - Sighting in Oklahoma RIDICULOUSLY GOOD SONG OF THE WEEKAndrew Bird - "Fake Palindromes"
The TDC Archive of the Greatest Things Ever Said, Ever"I'm gonna hire a fat
person to sit in the driver's seat whenever I'm not using the car. Maybe get a midget with ice in his mouth to blow
on the back of my neck while I'm driving." "If I ever won a source award, I would go onstage and speak
ebonics." "If you can be fat and do it, its not a sport." - Forest "Socrates"
Godwin
[Firth. It's pronounced Firth. Like the actor. Like our planet if it started with F.]
Welcome to the official TDC Productions website. Glad you could make it. Hope you enjoy yourself. If you want to check out
any recent postings, just check out the archive below the blog at the bottom of this page. If you've got anything to publish
here, send it right here.
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