Surging interest in vinyl records is fueling an industry, and Alexandria’s Furnace Record Pressing is betting the craze is here to stay.

As of today, the only place in Georgetown that sells vinyl is Urban Outfitters, but on February 7, Rob Norton’s Hill and Dale will officially open. In the meantime, let DCist tell you about what record shopping used to be like in Georgetown.

In a vain attempt to maintain my teetering level of street cred with the kids, here I am, ensuring that you, wonderful DCist reader, are properly informed about today’s Record Store Day. The occasion’s official website, The Vinyl District, and City Paper’s Arts Desk all have the info you need to plot out a proper cash-dropping long-playing-acquisition course, should you possess the means. Today’s festivities will be capped by a concert (7 p.m., $10, all…

From the twitterwires comes the exciting news that the Black Cat will host the next Record Fair. That ought to alleviate the crowding, which has been as much a feature of the event as nostalgia during its previous incarnations at the Warehouse and Civilian Art Projects (which is now in the Warehouse). Som Records, DC Soul Recordings, and The Vinyl District are reuniting for a very special Valentine’s Day edition of the Record Fair,…

Sure, Crafty Bastards is back today. But while you’re perusing the multitudes of DIY, don’t forget that the arty festival is hardly your last chance to blow a rather large wad of cash over the next 36 hours. That elusive seven-inch will certainly be calling for you from the third annual D.C. Record Fair at Comet Ping Pong on Sunday, featuring 25 of the East Coast’s finest purveyors of vinyl, crates of wax in tow….

Late Thursday afternoon, DJ Hut announced via Facebook that it will be shuttering its store in the upstairs portion of 2010 P Street NW. A little over a year ago, we heralded its return after a damaging fire, but the economic downturn coupled with the music industry’s move further down the MP3 road appears to have ultimately made DJ Hut’s physical location no longer viable. The notice, sent to DJ Hut’s Facebook group, declared…

Good news for all those who’ve lamented the unavailability of high quality, unrestricted digital content from D.C.’s most storied independent record label. Dischord Records’ catalog has been available via the iTunes store and some other online sources for a few years now, but those recordings were most often only available at relatively low 128 kbps quality, and contained all the usual DRM restrictions. Not only that, in many of those stores a Dischord track cost…