NYC vinyl purchases

While in NYC last week, I hit a whole slew of record shops and bought quite a bit of vinyl. Most of it was cheap 50¢ and $1 records for sampling, but I bought a few things just for my own listening pleasure:

• Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988; reissue)
• De La Soul - is Dead (1991; reissue)
• De La Soul - Art Official Intelligence 2: Bionix (2001)
• Common - Resurrection (1994; reissue)
• El Michels Affair - Enter the 37th Chamber (2009)
• Ghostface Killah - The Big Doe Rehab (2007)
• Blu & Mainframe are - Johnson & Johnson (2008)
• Mayer Hawthorne - A Strange Arrangement (2009)
• Mayer Hawthorne - Maybe So, Maybe no 12" single (2009)

Except for De La's AOI:Bionix (top right), all these were brand-new, shrinkwrapped virgin vinyl. I don't know if you've ever had the pleasure of slicing open vinyl shrinkwrap with a pocket knife, but there's just something about it that makes me so much happier than fudging with a CD jewel case and a bunch of dumbass security/ barcode stickers.

And then whew, playing that fresh virgin vinyl? It sounds so sweet, ain't nuthin like it.