What Is Music?: A Music Podcast About Arctic Monkeys

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...

The Big Mates discuss concept albums, Chris Tarrant, the alt. rock pipeline, and Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not by Arctic Monkeys. 

Adam, Steve, and Lucas begin their dissection of the band's debut album by looking at the writing and recording process, the people who helped them make it, and the musical landscape at the time.

They also find time to talk about the band's 2005 tour, and their first ap...

The Big Mates discuss bouncers, poets, rappers, and Five Minutes With Arctic Monkeys. 

Adam, Steve, and Lucas properly begin their deep-dive exploration of Arctic Monkeys by talking about the people that make up the band, the various musical influences they brought with them, the city they grew up in, and the formation of the band itself.

They discuss the early days of the band, their gigs and demo recordings, their songs being share...

Introducing Season 7 of the What Is Music? podcast, which is called "Do U Wanna Know?: A Critical Analysis of the History, Cultural Impact, and Music of Arctic Monkeys".

Adam, Steve, and Lucas begin their deep-dive exploration of Arctic Monkeys by talking about their experiences with the band's music, their journeys with them over time, and what they know about the band.

They also talk about what they value in music an...

The Big Mates discuss call signs, the attraction of screens, easter eggs, and HIT ME HARD AND SOFT by Billie Eilish.

Adam, Steve, and Lucas return to the subject of their third season and explore Eilish's third studio album, released in 2024. 

They talk about the writing and recording process, the context surrounding the albums, and offer up analysis, opinions, and thoughts from three differing perspectives o...

For the first time on our main feed, we present to you The WIM Album Club, with an episode we released on our Patreon last December.

The episode is a classic WIM deep-dive into the album What's Going On by Marvin Gaye and features all of the usual discussion, analysis, commentary, history, insight, and tangents you've come to expect from the podcast.

If you enjoyed this episode, head over to our Patreon...

The Big Mates discuss Spirited Away, underwater photography, deer vocalisations, and HIT ME HARD AND SOFT by Billie Eilish.

Adam, Steve, and Lucas return to the subject of their third season and explore Eilish's third studio album, released in 2024. 

They talk about the writing and recording process, the context surrounding the albums, and offer up analysis, opinions, and thoughts from three differing perspec...

The Big Mates discuss ticket buying, secret agents, time signatures, and two albums by The Smile.

Adam, Steve, and Lucas return to the subject of their fourth season in order to catch up with the extra-curricular activities of members of Radiohead. As the band released two albums within a year, the Big Mates talk about Wall of Eyes and Cutouts all in one episode!

They talk about the writing and recording process, ...

The Big Mates discuss and conclude their thoughts on R.E.M. and their career. 

They bring an 18-month journey to a close, with thoughts on the sound, story, and attitude of the band, a recap of each of their albums and moods, and a look at their impact and legacy. 

It's a long finale to a long season! Thank you all for joining us!

Is it era or era? Do Nirvana sound like the Spice Girls? What is the true identi...

The Big Mates watch all of R.E.M.'s music videos in one sitting. Or a lot of them, at least!

You can watch along with us here:
https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1BTocYjExC/
Or you can just listen without watching anything - that works too!
Or you could make your own playlist - scroll down to see which videos we covered!

Our next episode will see us wrap-up and offer final thoughts on the whole 15-album, 31-year career...

Adam talks to Bertis Downs, long-time legal advisor and manager of R.E.M.

 They talk about the formation of his musical tastes, his background in law, and meeting the band in the early days of their career. They also discuss what he saw in R.E.M., how he learned the job as he was doing it, how to manage a band with a clear vision of their own, how to pick singles, life after the band, and much more!

Our next episode is out ...