Confirmed to TVD this morning is the sad news that Arlington’s Orpheus Records, one of that last surviving brick-and-mortar vinyl shops in the area is shutting its doors on April 1. Prices have been slashed 30% on all used records and much of the still-sealed merch will be 30% off as well. A harried employee this morning asked us to visit for details which we’ll do over the coming days.
Update: TVD’s just back from a few hours of rummaging through the stacks over at Orpheus and the place was wall-to-wall vinyl enthusiasts. My first thought was how sad is this — all of these customers here NOW that the store is shutting down? Literally there was a line and a significant wait to just check out. (Two guys in front of me bought 45 and 75 LP’s respectively. The stuff’s going out the door folks.) TVD inquired about the closure to the bearded owner who said it isn’t his wish to shutter at all – his lease is up and the landlord refuses to renew. There isn’t an option for him but to close. Asked if he’ll relocate, his comment was that after the move from Georgetown to Arlington, he vowed to never move again and that seems to be the prevailing notion. Orpheus will indeed shut its doors for good on 4/1.
In other closing news, the City Paper has reported the announced closing of Annandale’s metal and industrial niche shop Strangeland Records on March 17. Dan Boyd, a Strangeland employee since 2006 who plays bass for Fairfax metal band the Seventh Gate, admits. “To be completely honest, the metal scene in D.C. just isn’t that great.” Read more here.
