The Big Mates discuss liner notes, The Velvet Underground, being nice, and Dead Letter Office by R.E.M. Adam, Steve, and Lucas continue their deep dive into the career and discography of R.E.M. by exploring the collection of b-sides they released in 1987. They talk about where each track came from, the context surrounding the songs, and offer up analysis, opinions, and thoughts from three differing perspectives on music, from being deeply into analysis and music, to not caring for art or critique, and everything in between. They touch on the collection in general, whether b-sides should be taken seriously, and whether or not R.E.M. are the band to do that! They get to explore a range of moods along the way, from soft country, to heavy metal pastiche, to classic rock covers, and beyond... a must! Why is this some people's favourite R.E.M. album? How can you listen to this podcast being recorded live? How do you surf the web? Find out on this episode of What Is Music? Our next episode is out on Monday April 1st and will be a report from The Smile Live in Brighton! Join the conversation on: Twitter: https://twitter.com/whatismusicpod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatismusicpod E-mail: [email protected] Get access to more shows, exclusive bonus content, ad-free episodes of this show, and more music discussion by subscribing to our Patreon! Head to patreon.com/whatismusicpod and receive up to two new episodes of our various shows every week (including shows about Manic Street Preachers and monthly themed playlists!), ad-free archives of What Is Music?, and access to our Patron-only Discord server for even more music (and non-music) discussion! Check out the Skwiggo album here: https://skwiggo.bandcamp.com/album/skwiggo-i Support our show when starting your own podcast! By signing up to Buzzsprout with this link: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=780379 Check out our merch! https://whatismusicpod.redbubble.com Donate to our podcast! https://ko-fi.com/whatismusic http://whatismusic.buzzsprout.com/ Support the show