Ah, Pure Pop… hard to believe it’s been nearly three years since I’ve been inside you.

But that doesn’t mean I don’t think of you nearly every day. As you may have heard, Brooke and I live in DC now, which is a goddamn thrill-a-minute. I work as the Communications Director at a think tank called Future of Music Coalition. But what does that mean in the day-to-day? Well, I examine and translate issues at the intersection of music, technology, policy and law, while keeping the message on point. In Washington, there’s a lot of stuff that happens behind closed doors that actually impacts musicians. For a decade, FMC has given artists a voice on the issues that affect their livelihood. We fight for better media like radio, research and evaluate emerging business models, advocate for smart internet policy, ponder copyright in the digital age and so on and so forth. It’s all rather fascinating and has resulted in cool opportunities I could’ve never envisioned as a self-educated nutter. In my “spare time,” I operate The Contrarian Media, where my indentured servants and I write about all manner of things. Oh, and I still record music. Actually, I’m about halfway through a new record. I’d tell you more, but this is about you, not me. Besides, the feral cats who raised me told me that it’s impolite to boast. (By the way, and Brooke says hi. She’s a fundraiser for another public interest group that deals with telecom policy and copyright reform, so we get to go to the same cocktail parties!)

I’ve been tasked with compiling a list of some kind, so I figured I’d make mine about what I miss about ye olde record store. It’s by no means complete, but cut me some slack — I’m writing this at 1 AM, having spent the earlier part of the evening publicly shaming conservatives on Twitter. So this is what you get.

Things I miss about Pure Pop (in no particular order):

1. My co-workers. It might seem kind of weird, but the majority of my lasting adult (ha!) friendships were forged in the crucible of this little shop. So many great conversations, so many bizarre shared experiences. I love all you weirdos.

2. Turning people on to music. I’ll be honest, I’m not one for customers. (I hear Crandall’s voice in my head: “Shocker!”) Still, I got a special thrill helping to break a new band, or knowing what a particular regular was into and pointing them towards stuff I knew would blow their minds. It’s an feeling I’ve yet to replicate in my post-Pure Pop gigs.

3. Getting drunk after work, usually with the folks from the shop; sometimes with customers! It’s not like there’s much else to do in the frigid embrace of a Burlington winter.

4. Making fun of hippies. It simply never gets old. I hope someone at Pure Pop is carrying on that noble tradition.

5. Ordering records for the store. I’ve also made lasting friendships with some of the cool people who provide Pure Pop with such a unique selection of music. It saddens me to think that the indie distributor/indie retailer ecosystem is threatened. I’d say fuck progress, but you’ll have to pry my iPhone from my cold, dead hands.