Archive - smartdumb

How I learned to breathe the air of Pandora

In search of smartdumb: Avatar 3, Stranger Things, Marty Supreme, The Studio, Byung-Chul Han, Sarah Belle Reid, & letting the Kool-Aid movie be the…

Jan 10 • Nick Sylvester

December 2025

This is the song I shared most this year

In search of smartdumb: is "folk is back" back?; new music versus good music; "is this good?" versus "do I like how I feel when I listen to this?"

Dec 30, 2025 • Nick Sylvester

July 2025

The Funny Thing About Difficult Music

in search of smartdumb: Merzbow, Weird Al, infantile babble, Riff Central (RIP), breakbeats, samplers, annihilation, and the debut album of Nick…

Jul 21, 2025 • Nick Sylvester and Sam Hockley-Smith

June 2025

In Praise of Billy Jones

In search of smartdumb: the ongoing collective hallucination that is New York City; a band called the Octagon; Elvis Guesthouse; living your life as one…

Jun 9, 2025 • Nick Sylvester

The 0dBFS Aesthetic

in search of smartdumb: Sleater-Kinney's "The Fox"; digital clipping; Stadium Arcadium; St. Anger; Apogee converters; Sleigh Bells; Merriweather Post…

Jun 2, 2025 • Nick Sylvester

May 2025

What is smartdumb?

In search of smartdumb: a working understanding of the concept; the supposed decline of culture; art vs. entertainment; getting one's freak on; rolling…

May 20, 2025 • Nick Sylvester

Addison Rae, or: When Gas Is Mid and Mid Is Gas

in search of smartdumb: Max Martin's voice memos; good vs. believable; pop stars become celebrities vs. celebrities who become pop stars; Ron Perry's…

May 12, 2025 • Nick Sylvester

April 2025

O Drum Fill, Where Art Thou?

in search of smartdumb: Dave Grohl; some unfortunate realities of live drum recording; power versus performance; DAWs and EDM; the painted word (maybe?)

Apr 21, 2025 • Nick Sylvester

What is the point of an independent record label in 2025?

In search of smartdumb: beekeepers; gigs in abandoned party supply stores; the bigboxing of small labels; the solo debut of Sarah Register.

Apr 15, 2025 • Nick Sylvester

March 2025

In search of smartdumb: Aaron Young's "Greeting Card"

Mar 31, 2025 • Nick Sylvester

On First Looking Into Carti's Homer

in search of smartdumb: an eighth grader's midnight bargain; the turbulence that calls itself heavy metal; a child who refuses to say please and thank…

Mar 17, 2025 • Nick Sylvester

The Wisdom of Player Pianos

In search of smartdumb: William Gaddis; Melancholia Eins; a frolic of the author's own.

Mar 10, 2025 • Nick Sylvester