The Big Mates introduce Season 6 of the What Is Music? podcast. It's called "R.(w)E.M.joying This?: A Critical Analysis of the History, Cultural Impact, and Music of R.E.M." Adam, Steve, and Lucas begin their deep-dive exploration of R.E.M. by talking about their experiences with the band's music, and how much they already know. They then tackle some R.E.M. FAQs, discuss the genre they helped define, and reveal what they're most looking forward to about the season to come. The season to...

The Big Mates discuss the O2, boybands, reality television, and catch-up with Billie Eilish. Adam, Steve, and Lucas jump back into the career of Billie Eilish to find out what she's been up to since they finished Season 3, Should Eilishen? They discuss songs written for a Pixar film, the 2 track EP Guitar Songs, her contribution to the soundtrack for Barbie, and also touch on her Happier Than Ever World Tour, TikTok virality, and get to say the word 'blosh' again! What has Billie been up...

The Big Mates discuss queues to nowhere, calamari, tickets prices, and go to see Muse live at the O2. Adam, Steve, and Lucas travel to London in order to experience a live show by Muse at the O2 arena. They discuss their expectations, Muse's live prowess, and both their initial and considered reactions to the performance.  What do they play? Can Lucas put up with standing? Can Adam put up with Muse? Find out on this episode of What Is Music? Our next episode is out next Monday October...

The Big Mates discuss socialising with the fellowship, Uatu the Watcher, lists, and their final thoughts on Lauryn Hill. Adam, Steve, and Lucas look back on the last 9 weeks of musical examination, place the career of Lauryn Hill into context, and discuss their feelings and opinions on her music. They take in critical reception, cultural impact, and sum up each album of the her discography. They also find time to discuss their album rankings, final scores, and their Top 10 Lauryn Hill...

The Big Mates offer incredibly relevant, illuminating, and trascendantly necessary audio commentary for a selection of music videos from across the career of Lauryn Hill. You can watch along with us here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhXxCEX31R9gHE7gDkQzZdmmEFotUx5qC&si=mc-w7_AzqBwk8rUI Our next episode is out on Monday October 16th and will see us wrap up the Lauryn Hill season and give our final thoughts on her career, legacy, cultural impact, and music. Join the conversation...

The Big Mates present one of their Patreon shows, on the main feed for the first time... The Ultimate Playlist. Join us as we explore a broader range of music from many genres and numerous artists, with each month focusing on 8 songs centred around a different theme. Each host picks 2 songs, and 2 songs come from our subscribers! The theme is picked randomly from a pool of subscriber suggestions, but for these episodes (Part 2 out next week!) we conclude our dive into the world of Sports and...

The Big Mates discuss cardboard Bruce Springsteen, Benidorm, Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, and MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 by Lauryn Hill. Adam, Steve, and Lucas continue their deep dive into the career and discography of Lauryn Hill by concluding their track-by-track exploration of her performance on MTV Unplugged. The Big Mates talk about the writing and recording process, the context surrounding the songs, and offer up analysis, opinions, and thoughts from three differing perspectives...

The Big Mates present one of their Patreon shows, on the main feed for the first time... The Ultimate Playlist. Join us as we explore a broader range of music from many genres and numerous artists, with each month focusing on 8 songs centred around a different theme. Each host picks 2 songs, and 2 songs come from our subscribers! The theme is picked randomly from a pool of subscriber suggestions, but for these episodes (Part 2 out next week!) we dive into the world of Sports and explore...

The Big Mates discuss cardboard robots, fantasy and reality, Flight of the Conchords, and MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 by Lauryn Hill. Adam, Steve, and Lucas continue their deep dive into the career and discography of Lauryn Hill by exploring her only full-length release outside of her debut album. It takes the form of a live performance on MTV Unplugged, during which Lauryn Hill played a set of entirely new songs. The Big Mates talk about the writing and recording process, the context surrounding...

The Big Mates provide insightful commentary for Lauryn Hill live at Budokan 1999. Adam, Steve, and Lucas discuss the live performance as broadcast on TV, but edited to just the music! Head to YouTube to watch along: https://youtu.be/seiiKPYv2Yw Or don't - the episode works fine either way! Our next episode comes out Monday Spetember 25th and sees us begin our deep dive into Lauryn Hill MTV Unplugged No. 2.0! Join the conversation on: Twitter: https://twitter.com/whatismusicpod Instagram:...

The Big Mates discuss Kindles, Will Smith, Chess, and The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill by Lauryn Hill. Adam, Steve, and Lucas continue their deep dive into the career and discography of Lauryn Hill by wrapping up their thoughts on The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. They talk about the writing and recording process, 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...

The Big Mates discuss neo-soul, the thickness of sound, album narrative, and The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill by Lauryn Hill. Adam, Steve, and Lucas continue their deep dive into the career and discography of Lauryn Hill by exploring her first and only solo studio album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. They talk about the writing and recording process, the context surrounding the songs, and offer up analysis, opinions, and thoughts from three differing perspectives on music, from being...

The Big Mates discuss 90s hip-hop, some of the best music ever made, the strange business decisions of Bob Iger, and the career of Fugees. Adam, Steve, and Lucas begin in earnest their exploration of the career of Lauryn Hill by starting at the beginning. They talk about how Lauryn first got into music, her academic life, her acting career, and how she formed the group Fugees. They touch both albums by the hip-hop group in this brief overview of their short-lived career. They talk about...

The Big Mates introduce Season 5 of the What Is Music? podcast. It's called "Do You Ms. Lauryn Hill?: A Critical Analysis of the History, Cultural Impact, and Music of Lauryn Hill." Adam, Steve, and Lucas being their deep-dive exploration of Lauryn Hill by talking about their experiences with her music, and how much they already know. They then tackle some Lauryn Hill FAQs, discuss the genre she operates in, and reveal what they're most looking forward to about the season to come. The...

The Big Mates welcome you back to a celebration of, and look back on the last few years of podcasting. They present clips from across all 4 seasons of the What Is Music podcast, featuring discussion, arguments, guests, jokes, and some clips appearing for the first time on the main feed! We hope you enjoy this trip down memory lane - thank you for listening, and for all the support you have given us over the years. Join us next week for the beginning of Season 5! Join the conversation...

The Big Mates welcome you to a celebration of, and look back on the last few years of podcasting. They present clips from across all 4 seasons of the What Is Music podcast, featuring discussion, arguments, guests, jokes, and some clips appearing for the first time on the main feed! We hope you enjoy this trip down memory lane - thank you for listening, and for all the support you have given us over the years. Join us next week for even more of our best clips! Join the conversation...

The Big Mates discuss the great reset, dynamic edits, languages, and Will of the People by Muse. Adam, Steve, and Lucas return to their Season 2 subject, Muse, in order to dissect and explore the band's ninth and most recent album, Will of the People. They talk about the writing and recording process, 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...

The Big Mates discuss the human centipede of seeing things, NFTs, colour grading, and Will of the People by Muse. Adam, Steve, and Lucas return to their Season 2 subject, Muse, in order to dissect and explore the band's ninth and most recent album, Will of the People. They talk about the writing and recording process, 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...

The Big Mates discuss tipping, building bigger venues, Dopesick and their final thoughts on Radiohead. Adam, Steve, and Lucas look back on the last 15 months of musical examination, place the career of Radiohead into context, and discuss their feelings and opinions on the band. They take in critical reception, cultural impact, and sum up each album of the Radiohead discography. They look at how solo-albums and side projects feed into their career, and discuss the journey the band have been...

The Big Mates discuss Pulp Fiction, subtitles, stop-motion animation, and watch all of Radiohead's music videos in one sitting. Adam, Steve, and Lucas continue their deep dive into the career and discography of Radiohead by discussing every music video from across the band's career, providing insightful and illuminating commentary along the way. How many can they get through before the madness starts to seep in? Who is Phil and who is Clive? Which characters have been recast in Chicken Run...

The Big Mates discuss heat, negative energy, hovitating, and Colin Greenwood. Adam, Steve, and Lucas continue their deep dive into the career and discography of Radiohead by discussing the bassist from the band. What actually happens in this episode? What does Nick Cave have to do with Peaky Blinders? Which bear's is just right? Find out on this episode of What Is Music? Watch along with the commentary portion here: https://youtu.be/JKiRzxBVq3A Or don't! - It works fine either way! Our...

The Big Mates discuss Paul Thomas Anderson, Sean Harris, Tom Cruise, and a selection of contemporary classical and film score works by Jonny Greenwood. Adam, Steve, and Lucas continue their deep dive into the career and discography of Radiohead by discussing the extra-curricular activities of guitarist Jonny Greenwood, who has composed many concert works and contributed the score to some of the most acclaimed films of recent times. They look at how Jonny composes these pieces, and take a...

The Big Mates discuss painting, the pandemic, Glastonbury Festival, and A Light For Attracting Attention by The Smile. Adam, Steve, and Lucas continue their deep dive into the career and discography of Radiohead by discussing the debut by side-project, The Smile. They look at how the band featuring Radiohead members Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood came to be, howe they recorded their first album, and the context surrounding the songs. They also go track-by-track on the record, discuss the...

Adam sits down with Associate Professor of Music Theory and affiliated faculty in American Studies at the University of Kansas, Dr. Brad Osborn, to talk about his book, Everthing In Its Right Place: Analyzing Radiohead. They talk about their experiences of music in general, the different ways to listen ot music, musical analysis, and pick out some Radiohead songs that best fit Brad's theory that "Radiohead’s music exhibits a musical Goldilocks zone, presenting the listener with myriad...

A bonus episode, appearing on our main feed from our Patreon show, revisiting Manic Street Preachers. It's called Are We Still So In Love With You?, and you can now claim a free 7-day trial of any subscription tier at www.patreon.com/whatismusicpod. The Big Mates continue their re-evaluation of Manic Street Preachers by immersing themselves back into the world of The Holy Bible. They discuss whether their opinions on the record have changed over the years, and figure out where the album...