My wife got me an Ion USB turntable for Christmas. There are 200 or so albums sitting in the shed, protected in a couple of boxes where they have sat for 20 (!) years or so, stored away after I stopped buying LPs and went to CDs (before I went to digital downloads). They’re the remnants from a record collection that easily numbered more than 500, back from the days when I would choose between LPs and decent food and usually picked the former.

I hadn’t looked at those albums even as I shuffled them between apartments, townhouses and finally the house I currently own. The boxes went along, unopened.

And so, when I cracked one of the boxes open today, I was really surprised — and pleased.

Inside were albums that have really held up over time. On top was “Nuggets,” a compliation of ’60s garage band recordings and one of my all-time favorite albums. I’ve never been able to find that on iTunes or Amazon MP3, and I never bothered to pick it up on CD (there are a number of versions, including an extended multi-CD set), and I promptly used the turntable and Audacity to cut it up.

I’ve also chopped up “The Great Blues Men,” a Vanguard recording from a time when Vanguard meant instant quality (and helped hip uptight white Americans to music that wasn’t from uptight white Americans).

Next up: The Kinks Greatest Hits! Many more await.