AN INTRODUCTION

10/17/25

Here I am. Writing into the void. Or maybe I'm writing for myself. Or maybe my mom? Not so sure yet. 

Cosmic Smell came from a song name that I had written down a few months ago. I don't remember where it came from. I wish I could trace the origin of it, but alas here we are. The name was used, for a brief moment, for a song I wrote about my roommate leaving dirty dishes in the sink. After the song was promptly abandoned, it went back into my list of potential song names. It sat until I decided to give it new life here as the name of my blog. I know it's kind of funky. But that's the point. It sticks in your mind doesn't it? I mean, it clearly did in mine. Cosmic Smell has a nice ring to it. A grotesque ring, but a nice one nonetheless. 

I started Cosmic Smell as way to put my thoughts onto paper (or into an endless void of content). I know most people write in a journal and keep it to themselves, but I figured I'd write in a blog post and send it out to anyone who's interested in reading the thoughts of a pretentious music guy with some spare time on his hands. The term "pretentious" will be used extensively throughout this site, which means I'm self aware enough to recognize it...Writing has always been an interesting concept to me. I've written so much for school that I've become numb to writing long-winded papers and now see it as a chore as opposed to a pastime. I hope to reverse that notion with this blog. I want to be able to sit and write freely. No grades. No first draft. No bullshit. Just type, type, type, and send. I want to learn to write without the crippling existential dread that I'm going to miss a deadline. FYI, I'll try to get a post out at least once a week, time permitting, of course. I want to express my opinions about what I'm passionate about in writing. Not that anyone actually gives a shit what I think about music, but hey I'm writing about it anyways aren't I? I'm trying to get off my phone too. Not for any philosophical reason or anything. I didn't have a sudden epiphany that my phone was turning my brain to mush. I just don't want to be on it as much. I need to focus and regain my attention span. If the music industry didn't rely so hard on Instagram for promotion, I would've deleted it a long time ago, but that's a story for another post...

The whole point of this blog is to write about music and force myself to think critically about it. Don't get me wrong, I think about music every second of every day. But I need to think about it analytically and try to critique it. I'm aiming to get into the nitty gritty of what makes music a driving force in my life. I want to look at the history of music and deep dive my favorite artists in an attempt to one up casual fans. As I learn and progress with music, I'm sure these posts will get less and less shitty. Or so I hope lol. Music is everything to me. It coats my ears and my walls. It's always on my mind. If I was Earth, music would be the sun. There has to be a less "asshole music guy" way to put that, but I'm drawing a blank on another analogy that works as well as that does. Seriously, music is everything. There's so much to find and discover. I've heard many say that it is a "universal language", which I think is 100% true. I'm one of those people who is always listening to music when they have the chance. Even now as I write this I'm listening to a song that you'd hear blasting out of a stoner's open window, which is, of course, accompanied by the stench of his homegrown weed that has a name like "Mud Splatter in the Bowl" or "Donny Burger #5". I'm well aware that there are people who listen to far more music than I do and are probably more qualified to be starting a blog about it, but this is the f**king internet man! I can do whatever I want. I hope that this blog can be used as a time capsule that I and others can look back at and see my journey with music (and related topics). 

I'll be writing one post a week. Wait. Let me rephrase. I'll sure as hell try to write one post a week. Please don't hold me to that though. Each post will come in the form of one of two things: A random topic I decide to write about (most likely music related) or an album review. I haven't entirely figured out the structure for the review posts, but I have a general idea. Album reviews will be my honest take on an album that I've listened to. Fairly self explanatory. I will be going into what went into making the album and the gear they used to record it if the information is readily available to me. Finally, I will name my favorite track(s). No rating system here. At least not yet. I also have a section on this site called "An Album a Day Keeps the Whatever the F**k Away". I've been trying to listen to a new album all the way through every day. You can find the full list of what I've listened to already and what I plan on listening to on that page. There's also a submissions form that you can fill out! Send me an album and I'll add it to my list. BTW, if I end up not writing a post for the week, I'll likely post a random Calvin and Hobbes strip that I like. Deal with it.

Now here we are at the end of my first post. You know what Cosmic Smell is here to do. You know why it's here to do said things. I urge you to stay up to date with all my posts here on the website. If you want to start reading again, here's a wall of text you can look at every week. Here is where we are.

A big shout out to the lovely Lily Matthey for inspiring me to start writing and helping me make this site. 

Rock on friends! See you next week...

Cheers,

Jack