Last night we held one of our semi-regular poker nights. It was attended by elder statesmen of the Pure Popperverse, the newest blood being myself and Mr. Michael Breiner (pictured on the far right) who have been in the Pure Pop employ for six years or so. We were joined by former employee Chris Miller (pictured on the far left), a fine man and card player.

Breiner, for the second time in a row, won the proceedings with some deft playing. It was a pretty close game for the most part, with just about everyone enjoying chip-leader status at some point. The great exception to that was yours truly (not pictured). I won all of two hands, played with cowardice and swore off playing poker ever again about a dozen times over the course of the night.

As you might imagine, we listened to quite a bit of great music over the course of the evening. The night was hosted by Tanner (pictured middle left), who’s digital music collection rivals any I’ve ever seen. Our other Michael (pictured middle right) treated us to a Neko Case-themed playlist that I initially resisted only to find myself enjoying thoroughly.

In situations like these, one hopes and can expect to hear something new. Some of the better stuff we heard that I was unfamiliar with included bands called The Assembly, The Records (who Breiner emphatically recommends) and the Flamin’ Groovies, a band I’ve grown to absolutely adore over the course of twenty-four hours.

We also delighted in many Pure Pop favorites, including Kate Bush, Nick Lowe, XTC, Wire, Morrissey and the like. A fine night, all things considered.