ribstabsheart

Was it more bent/creased than can be fixed with a couple heavy books? I hate that

Bootlegs?

Hmmm... this is better than expected.

IIRC, they're remastered and on higher quality vinyl. I have the OG pressings of Steady Diet of Nothing, In on the Kill Taker, and The Argument that are all on ~140g vinyl and they all sounded fine as well..

I'm a big fan of the really thick 7"s (don't know the gram weight offhand), especially when they're done right at 33 RPM without too many songs. I've had a couple 7"s that sound better than their LPs, but on a whole, LPs generally sound better. 7"s can be the perfect hardcore format, just enough before you get a break and get to flip. I do admit I don't listen to them as much as the others, though.

As long as you use two thick pieces of cardboard and make sure to tape up the sides so that the record can't pop out, I think this is one of the best/most secure ways to send a single 7". I like to send mine with the record on the outside of the sleeve, inside of a clear plastic outer sleeve, to make sure the record doesn't pop out and the tape doesn't stick to the record itself. I too have received a 7" without any cardboard before, and it sucks. I've also had a mailman bend it to fit inside of a small postbox before, and that also sucks. Make sure to put "DO NOT BEND" and have them stamp "FRAGILE" on there if you can, and be nice to your mailman/lady. If Seinfeld taught me anything, it's to never piss off the mailman.

dot for when I finally visit mecca

TL;DR: Yes, but I'd prefer vinyl re-issues of all his proper albums that were only released on CD. Nujabes' label -- Hydeout Productions -- seems to be very protective of Nujabes' material and wishes for his life to be private. There was a fellow by the name of Abe who did a lot of research on Jun and even traveled to Japan to film his family members and people who knew him best. It's been complete for well over a year now, and Hydeout still hasn't published it; either because it wasn't up to par, or because they didn't want it produced at a certain time. If you were able to secure rights to press his records, I don't think Hydeout would want someone else to chop up his albums into a compilation. I get the feeling that they would rather keep them whole, or create a "Greatest Hits" on their own and publish it on their own label. Personally, I'd kill to own some of his stuff on vinyl. It's so warm and comforting, it's a shame it was never released on our favorite format (save for one 7" and those Love Sic 12"s). Crossing my fingers for you, pal!

Do you have an auto-return turntable? If so, be sure to hit 'stop' or 'return' before stopping the record. If not, carefully lift up on the stylus when it's playing, and you can easily return it to the cradle before switching sides. Unless you have a direct drive turntable (with a motor, not a large rubberband-like belt), it's not a good idea to manually stop the platter when it's in motion. As for the cork slipmat question, I've heard that they do produce a better sound quality, but unless you have a good setup you might not be able to notice all that much. The cork won't damage your records -- it's a soft material, and the worst it would do is leave some dust behind (like my felt slipmat does all the time). Hope this helps. If not, sorry!