Last week, I recorded my first vinyl unboxing video. I had just received my pre-ordered copy of Frankie Cosmos’ new album, “Next Thing,” and I was excited to open it up and check out all the cool things that came along with it: lip balm, a pin, and a zine. And, of course, I was excited to see the splatter vinyl and listen to the music.

I was supposed to go to the release show for the album on Friday, but I was too sick to make the trip to the city, so I decided to do my unboxing video and share the contents with everyone. It was definitely a learning experience. For one, I don’t have a good setup for unboxing. I suppose I managed to show everything as I unpackaged the contents of the box, but I probably should have had my camera mounted above so the viewer could experience it right with me. Two, I have cats, and cats love to insert themselves into videos. They might be fast asleep when I get everything set up to do a video, but they will without fail wake up the moment I hit record and want to monkey around somewhere in the frame. And three, it would have been wise to just black out my address on the box instead of having to use my extremely archaic video editing program to try and blur it out in post. Hey, if you have spare change and want to donate it to the “Vinyl Hysteria needs a Mac with Premiere” fund, let me know!

It was fun, though, making this video, and hopefully I’ll learn from my rookie mistakes and create something a little steadier next time around. Watch below to check out all the cool stuff that came with the Frankie Cosmos limited edition pre-order, and then go buy the album for yourself if you haven’t already. The band’s on tour all this month to promote “Next Thing,” and I definitely recommend taking in a show if they stop in your neck of the woods.