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.
- Update frequency
- every 6 days
- Average duration
- 102 minutes
- Episodes
- 298
- Years Active
- 2020 - 2025
Season 6 Introduction: R.(w)E.M.joying This?
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 beg…
Billie Eilish Round-Up
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 t…
Muse Live at the O2
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…
Lauryn Hill Final Thoughts
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, pl…
Lauryn Hill Music Videos
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 h…
The Ultimate Playlist: Sports (Pt. 2)
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, wi…
MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 (Pt. 2)
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 …
The Ultimate Playlist: Sports (Pt. 1)
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, wi…
MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 (Pt. 1)
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 disc…
Lauryn Hill Live at Budokan 1999 Commentary
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 t…
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (Pt. 2)
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 …
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (Pt. 1)
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 discogr…
Fugees
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 …
Season 5 Introduction: Do You Ms. Lauryn Hill?
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 L…
Greatest Hits Vol. 2: Big Mates At Their Very Best
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, …
Greatest Hits Vol. 1: Now That's What I Call What Is Music?: A Music Podcast About Music
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, argum…
Will of the People (Pt. 2)
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…
Will of the People (Pt. 1)
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…
Radiohead Final Thoughts
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 o…
Radiohead Music Videos
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 disc…