What Is Music?: A Music Podcast About Arctic Monkeys
A podcast that dives deep into discographies - one artist per season. Hosts Adam, Steve, and Lucas go album by album, track by track, exploring how context shapes our experience of music, why fans become obsessed, and what music really is. With three hosts coming from wildly different levels of musical knowledge, expect sharp analysis, wild tangents, hot takes, and more information about the artists (and the hosts) than you ever asked for. Currently exploring the discography of Arctic Monkeys. Previous seasons featured Manic Street Preachers, Muse, Billie Eilish, Radiohead, Lauryn Hill, and R.E.M.
Episodes
The Big Mates discuss Drake, Black Sabbath, dancing through lasers to steal an egg, and AM by Arctic Monkeys.
Adam, Steve, and Lucas continue their exploration of the career of Arctic Monkeys and their track-by-track analysis of their blockbuster fifth album.
They explore the composition, tone, lyrics, meaning, and context for each song in turn - all from three differing perspectives, from being deeply into music and analysis, to n...
The Big Mates discuss the Olympics, Thunderbirds, The Lone Ranger, and AM by Arctic Monkeys.
Adam, Steve, and Lucas begin their dissection of the band's fifth album by talking about haircuts, jackets, the transitional period the band found themselves in, and how they entered the studio to record an 'experimental' album.
They discuss the writing, rehearsal, and recording of the album, explore the overall themes and so...
The Big Mates provide strange and pointless audio commentary for Arctic Monkeys Live at Rock En Seine 2011.
Adam, Steve, and Lucas discuss the 2011 concert and talk about the Suck It and See tour in general, including what is a transitional period for the band!
Head to YouTube to watch along here:
https://youtu.be/AmCOx5igI3Y?si=TKhLLQiMBqSG5JOy
Or don't watch along - the episode works fine either way!
The Big Mates discuss Back to the Future, safety advice, Nuggets, and Suck It and See by Arctic Monkeys.
Adam, Steve, and Lucas continue their exploration of the career of Arctic Monkeys and conclude their track-by-track analysis of their fourth album.
They explore the composition, tone, lyrics, meaning, and context for each song in turn - all from three differing perspectives, from being deeply into music and analysis, to not cari...
The Big Mates discuss Lucky Number Slevin, lyrical simplicity, Record Store Day, and Suck It and See by Arctic Monkeys.
Adam, Steve, and Lucas continue their exploration of the career of Arctic Monkeys by diving into the band's fourth studio album.
They discuss the writing and recording of the record, explore the overall themes and sound, and begin their track-by-track analysis, exploring the composition, tone, lyrics, meaning,...
The Big Mates discuss utilisation, Facebook, soundchecks, and Submarine by Alex Turner.
Adam, Steve, and Lucas continue their exploration of the career of Arctic Monkeys by briefly stepping outside of it in order to examine the only solo release from Alex Turner - the soundtrack to Submarine.
They discuss how the project came together, the writing and recording of the EP, and they explore the overall themes and sound, taking in the ...
Adam sits down with Alain Johannes to discuss the recording of Humbug by Arctic Monkeys.
Alain was the engineer working with the band, Josh Homme, and James Ford during the sessions for Humbug and in this episode he reveals the work that went into those sessions.
Adam and Alain talk about the creative process, catching ideas, the role of engineering in music, the production of Humbug, and how the album took shape.
They ...
The Big Mates provide wayward and explosionary audio commentary for Arctic Monkeys Live at Liquid Room, Tokyo 2009.
Adam, Steve, and Lucas discuss the 2009 concert and talk about the Humbug tour in general!
Head to YouTube to watch along here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQqNc8u1vuE&t
Or don't watch along - the episode works fine either way!
Our next episode comes out Monday September 15th!
The Big Mates discuss third albums, dinosaurs, jingles, and Humbug by Arctic Monkeys.
Adam, Steve, and Lucas continue their exploration of the career of Arctic Monkeys and conclude their track-by-track analysis of their third album.
They explore the composition, tone, lyrics, meaning, and context for each song in turn - all from three differing perspectives, from being deeply into music and analysis, to not caring for art or critiq...
The Big Mates discuss engineering, confectionery, ego mechanics, and Humbug by Arctic Monkeys.
Adam, Steve, and Lucas continue their exploration of the career of Arctic Monkeys and their track-by-track analysis of their third album.
They explore the composition, tone, lyrics, meaning, and context for each song in turn - all from three differing perspectives, from being deeply into music and analysis, to not caring for art or critiq...
The Big Mates discuss adventures, break ups, expectations, and Humbug by Arctic Monkeys.
Adam, Steve, and Lucas continue their exploration of the career of Arctic Monkeys by diving into the band's divisive, murky, and spooky third album.
They discuss the writing and recording of the album, explore the overall themes and sound, and (barely) begin their track-by-track analysis, exploring the composition, tone, lyrics, meaning, an...
The Big Mates discuss Burt Bacharach, The Zombies, David Bowie, Scott Walker, Belle & Sebastian, Serge Gainsbourg, The Electric Prunes, Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, John Barry, Ennio Morricone, Astrud Gilberto, Mel Torme, The Sonics, and The Age of the Understatement by The Last Shadow Puppets.
Adam, Steve, and Lucas continue their exploration of the career of Arctic Monkeys by briefly stepping outside of it in order to...
The Big Mates provide exciting and vital audio commentary for Arctic Monkeys at the Apollo.
Adam, Steve, and Lucas discuss the 2007 concert as released on DVD in 2008 and talk about the Favourite Worst Nightmare tour in general!
Grab those official DVDs to watch along!
Or don't watch along - the episode works fine either way!
Our next episode comes out Monday August 11th and will see us explore T...
The Big Mates discuss CM Punk, Ennio Morricone, Tommy Lee Jones, and Favourite Worst Nightmare by Arctic Monkeys.
Adam, Steve, and Lucas continue and conclude their discussion of the band's second album, providing analysis and opinion as they finish up their track-by-track exploration.
They discuss the final tracks of the album and then offer up their thoughts and feelings on the album as a whole, give it a score out of ten, an...
The Big Mates discuss Robot Wars, bingo, innuendo, and Favourite Worst Nightmare by Arctic Monkeys.
Adam, Steve, and Lucas continue their discussion of the band's second album, going track-by-track to provide analysis and opinion.
They talk about rhythmic expansion, holiday word games, pedal steel guitar, crazy parties, face coverings, tense relationships, and break ups as they explore the composition, tone, lyrics, meaning, an...
The Big Mates discuss Avril Lavigne, Stewie Griffin, Duran Duran, and Favourite Worst Nightmare by Arctic Monkeys.
Adam, Steve, and Lucas begin their dissection of the band's follow up to the hugely successful debut by talking about awards ceremonies, the mounting pressure they must have felt, and the attitude going into the creation of the record.
They discuss the writing, rehearsal, and recording of the album, explore the ov...
The Big Mates provide insightful and tangential audio commentary for Arctic Monkeys live Reading Festival 2006.
Adam, Steve, and Lucas discuss the concert as broadcast on BBC television and radio, and then lovingly stitched together by YouTuber Alex Turner (not that one). They also discuss Reading Festival in general, the festival landscape at the time, and Lucas' attendance at this very show!
Here is the ...
The Big Mates discuss The 1975, My Chemical Romance, Klaxons, and Who the Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys? by Arctic Monkeys.
Adam, Steve, and Lucas continue their deep-dive into the career of Arctic Monkeys by exploring what happened in the immediate aftermath of their hugrly successful debut album.
They discuss the EP Who the Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys?, exploring each track in turn and offering analysis, opinion, and various tengential thou...
The Big Mates discuss Shane Meadows, Stephen Graham, Paddy Considine, and Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not by Arctic Monkeys.
Adam, Steve, and Lucas continue and conclude their discussion of the band's debut album, providing analysis and opinion as they finish up their track-by-track exploration.
They discuss the final tracks of the album and then offer up their thoughts and feelings on the album as a who...
The Big Mates discuss Peter Buck, train love, traditional policemen, and Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not by Arctic Monkeys.
Adam, Steve, and Lucas continue their discussion of the band's debut album, going track-by-track to provide analysis and opinion.
They also find time to talk about the origins of the post-punk revival scene, the NME's influence on the music scene, and the meanness of 00s cultur...
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