The Big Mates discuss Coldplay, Maroon 5, Robbie Williams, and Around the Sun by R.E.M.

Adam, Steve, and Lucas continue their deep dive into the career and discography of R.E.M. by starting their analysis of the band's thirteenth studio album, released in 2004. 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 critique, and everything in between.

They discuss how the pace of the band had slowed down (and the frustrations that resulted), the fragmented recording sessions, and the state of the world the album was released into.

They explore the overarching themes of the album, question whether this could be the most experimental R.E.M. album, and also get to chat about the 2004 Vote for Change Tour. They then get started on their track-by-track analysis of the album!

How many bands has Peter Buck actually been in? What is a dome phone? What is slam dancing? Find out on this episode of What Is Music?

Our next episode is out on Monday January 13th and will continue our analysis of Around the Sun.

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The Big Mates present one of their Patreon shows on the main feed... The Ultimate Playlist.

Join us as we continue to 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 1 came out last week!) we focussed on the appropriately festive theme of Xmas!

To hear more episodes of this show, head to patreon.com/whatismusicpod and subscribe to the Biggest Mates tier! Episodes are released on the second and third Thursdays of every month!

The tier also comes with access to ad-free episodes of the main feed, our monthly Album Club show, additonal bonus episodes every month, and a very fun Discord community!

Support the show

The Big Mates present one of their Patreon shows on the main feed... 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 focussed on the appropriately festive theme of Xmas!

To hear more episodes of this show, head to patreon.com/whatismusicpod and subscribe to the Biggest Mates tier! Episodes are released on the second and third Thursdays of every month!

The tier also comes with access to ad-free episodes of the main feed, our monthly Album Club show, additonal bonus episodes every month, and a very fun Discord community!

Support the show

The Big Mates get festive once again.

Join us for another Christmas of mostly the same stuff as the previous ones. Are you ready for Christmas? Are you feeling Christmassy? What are your favourite Christmas songs?

Plus, we explore some of the festive offerings from R.E.M. from across their whole career!

It's all here, and it's all the same! Some games, some memories, and some mentions of the holiday season!

We'll be having a little break over the holiday period - but from next week you can hear last year's festive episodes of The Ultimate Playlist, appearing for free on the main feed for the first time! Those are released on December 23rd and 30th.

We'll be back in the New Year, on January 6th, with our deep-dive into Around the Sun by R.E.M.!

Join the conversation on:
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Threads: https://www.threads.net/@whatismusicpod
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E-mail: whatismusicpod@gmail.com

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!

Support our show when starting your own podcast!
By signing up to Buzzsprout with this link: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=780379

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Adam and Steve are joined by April Richardson for a far-reaching, fun chat about teenage obsession, problematic artists, magazine wallpaper, stadium bands, reformations, the American south, Brighton, performing comedy, cultural webs, and R.E.M.

Our next episode is out on Monday December 16th!

Find more of April here: https://www.patreon.com/aprilrichardson

Join the conversation on:
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/whatismusicpod.bsky.social
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@whatismusicpod
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatismusicpod
E-mail: whatismusicpod@gmail.com

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!

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

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Support the show

The Big Mates provide sparkling and artistic audio commentary for Perfect Square, the live video release by R.E.M.

Adam, Steve, and Lucas discuss the film as originally presented on DVD and also dig into how it was made, how R.E.M. have progressed as a live band, and explore the whole 2003 World Tour.

Dig out those official DVDs to watch along...
Or don't - the episode works fine either way!

Our next episode comes out Monday December 9th!

Join the conversation on:
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/whatismusicpod.bsky.social
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@whatismusicpod
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatismusicpod
E-mail: whatismusicpod@gmail.com

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!

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

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The Big Mates discuss writing home, adolescence, compilations and Reveal by R.E.M.

Adam, Steve, and Lucas continue their deep dive into the career and discography of R.E.M. by concluding their analysis of the band's twelfth studio album, released in 2001. 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 critique, and everything in between.

They discuss the summery vibe the band create, the experimental textures they utilise, and they discuss one of the band's biggest hits - Imitation of Life.

They then sum up how they feel about Reveal, how it was received at the time of release, and how that perception may have changed in the intervening years.

They also find time to explore what the band did after releasing the album, including the release of In Time: The Best Of R.E.M. 1988- 2003. They run through the compilation, including the three tracks that appear there for the first time.

What do we think of Reveal? What's the most common time? Does I'll Take The Rain end the album? Find out on this episode of What Is Music?

Our next episode is out on Monday December 2nd!

Join the conversation on:
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E-mail: whatismusicpod@gmail.com

Try your 30-day free trial of Zinio Unlimited today!
Follow this link: https://bit.ly/4f9M6pu

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!

Support our show when starting your own podcast!
By signing up to Buzzsprout with this link: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=780379

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https://whatismusicpod.redbubble.com
Donate to our podcast!
https://ko-fi.com/whatismusic

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Support the show

The Big Mates discuss blood collection, hot weather, Frutiger Aero, and Reveal by R.E.M.

Adam, Steve, and Lucas continue their deep dive into the career and discography of R.E.M. by starting their analysis of the band's twelfth studio album, released in 2001. 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 critique, and everything in between.

They discuss how the band followed their experimental album, the sessions that resulted in Reveal, and the band's mood around the time.

They explore the overarching themes of the album, the marked difference in sound, and Michael Stipe's new approach to vocals. They then get started on their track-by-track analysis of the album!

How did the band react to Up? Can you fly a spaceship through Saturn? How much can Lucas sneakily eat throughout the episode? Find out on this episode of What Is Music?

Our next episode is out on Monday November 25th and will continue our analysis of Reveal.

Join the conversation on:
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/whatismusicpod.bsky.social
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@whatismusicpod
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatismusicpod
E-mail: whatismusicpod@gmail.com

Try your 30-day free trial of Zinio Unlimited today!
Follow this link: https://bit.ly/4f9M6pu

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!

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