Other Music

The 2019 documentary Other Music, directed by Puloma Basu and Rob Hatch-Miller, is more than just a historical film about the legendary New York City record store that was open from 1995 to 2016. As Other Music co-owner Josh Madell says in a touching scene shot two days before the store’s final closing, it’s about the “magic of human interaction” and whether that can exist in a world of pricey rents and digital-only culture—and that phrase takes on an even more affecting meaning in these days of coronavirus. The Other Music shop started long before online streaming became the primary way that most people interact with music. Owners Madell, Chris Vanderloo, and Jeff Gibson met as employees of Kim’s Underground, a New York store that rented and sold arthouse and underground movie videos and later music. Deciding they could sell cool music better themselves, the trio audaciously opened their own establishment across from the huge, multi-level Tower Records location near Astor Place. The store’s name was a catch-all for the obscure and cutting-edge indie rock, rap, international, and reissued sounds they sold. For two decades, the owners and their employees endeared themselves with in-store gigs by outfits like Yo La Tengo, Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel, Vampire Weekend, The National, and Tinariwen. To help keep the Other Music people rather than the algorithm’s vision alive, the online rental fee for the movie is being split between the film producers and independent record stores and movie houses through April 30. In our area, that means you can choose to support the Miracle Theatre, Songbyrd, Red Onion Records, or the AFI Silver. The film is available to stream at othermusic.vhx.tv. $10–$11.50. —Steve Kiviat

Obsess over D.C. money diaries

Cabin fever keeping you down? Why not relive your pre-pandemic D.C. life with a perusal of the internet’s best money and lifestyle diaries? Refinery29’s original Money Diaries series is known to set the Twitterverse alight with yuppies hoping to unmask authors like an anonymous D.C. surgeon who spent $1,500 on lingerie or young journalists speculating about the identity of a margarita-loving local editor, but there are plenty of other options for you to pine over or tear apart from the comfort and confinement of your IKEA couch. Two D.C. media outlets have their own round-ups: For a whimsical time reading about other people’s sex lives, look no further than Washingtonian’s Food, Money, Sex column, where you can question (or giggle at) the money-spending habits of a couple who bought plane tickets right before the pandemic or relate to another author’s story about wandering to McDonald’s for a hangover meal after a night of partying. For a more sobering look at life in the District, WAMU’s Money Talks series takes a down-to-earth tone with budgeting, retirement, and investment tips from a range of regular Joes, like this debt-free millennial who shares lessons from his immigrant family. And for a final trip, CNBC’s Millennial Money series runs the gambit from a 26-year-old homeowner who works on the Hill to a 24-year-old former Marine who really lives in National Harbor. At this point in social distancing, why not live vicariously through these folks? The series are available at refinery29.com, washingtonian.com, wamu.org, and cnbc.com. Free. —Christian Paz