What Is Music?: A Music Podcast About Music

Adam and Steve use their human voices to discuss Medúlla by Björk.

The exploration of the career and music of Björk reaches her fifth studio album, released in 2004. Adam and Steve dig into how the album was written and recorded, the inspirations and influences behind it, and the musical landscape at the time it was released, before starting their track-by-track analysis. 

They consider the meeting of tradition and modernity, the boundaries of a concept album, how an artist goes “back to basics”, and what that means for Björk. Along the way, they touch on school trends, missing world events, David Lynch touching a hot car, intense speeches, and midnight mass. 

Meanwhile, Steve wrestles with form and function and Adam struggles with beatboxing… all on this week’s episode of What Is Music?

The discussion on Medúlla continues next week!

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Head to patreon.com/whatismusicpod to explore our Album Club, help us compile The Ultimate Playlist, and listen to bonus episodes every month! You also get instant access to every episode of those shows and What Is Music? - that’s more than 500 episodes! You can also join your hosts and fellow listeners in our subscriber-only Discord! 

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Lucas makes a big announcement, but first, The Big Mates discuss Gollum, Keith Allen, Dev Patel, and take time to reflect on Björk. 

Adam, Steve, and Lucas pause their dissection of Björk's career and follow her lead by looking back. They take a look at her Greatest Hits and the releases surrounding it, discuss her tour after it, and explore the tracks they had yet to encounter.

Then they look back at the albums they've already covered, consider what they found most challenging and enjoyable, and attempt to place Björk's career so far into a wider context. They then find time to rank the albums and reveal their Top 10 Björk songs so far!

Lucas' announcement, for the curious, can be found at 2:20:00. 

Who invented fish and chips? What is the limelight? Will Coldplay release a Greatest Hits in time for Christmas? Find out on this episode of What Is Music?

Our next episode is out next week!

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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 our album club 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!

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Lucas Way will return in 
On Her Christmas’s Christmas Service

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The Big Mates provide an acrobatic kind of audio accompaniment for a variety of clips from the Vespertine era of Björk’s career. 

Head to YouTube to watch along by clicking here!

Or don't watch along - the episode works fine either way!

Our next episode comes out Monday October 19th!

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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 our album club 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!
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The Big Mates discuss Pro Tools, music boxes, ocarinas, and Vespertine by Björk. 

Adam, Steve, and Lucas continue their dissection of Björk's fourth album by looking at how she wrote and recorded it, the collaborations she sought to help her, and her goals for the album.

They look at how the album was received when it came out, how it's regarded today, and they finish up their track-by-track analysis, exploring the composition, sound, lyrics, meaning, and context for each song in turn - all from three differing perspectives, from being deeply into music and analysis, to not caring for art or critique, and everything in between!

What will we make of the second half of the album? What will the scores be? How do you remember the difference between stalagmites and stalactites? Find out on this episode of What Is Music?

Our next episode is out next week, Monday October 12th!

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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 our album club 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!

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The Big Mates discuss Mr. Burns, activity times, ASMR, and Vespertine by Björk. 

Adam, Steve, and Lucas begin their dissection of Björk's fourth album by looking at how she wrote and recorded it, the collaborations she sought to help her, and her goals for the album.

They also find time to explore the world around Björk, how she processed the events surrounding Dancer in the Dark, and how this record started as a hobby, before starting the track-by-track analysis, exploring the composition, sound, lyrics, meaning, and context for each song in turn - all from three differing perspectives, from being deeply into music and analysis, to not caring for art or critique, and everything in between!

What was Björk’s initial vision for the album? Where is the hidden place? Sex? Find out on this episode of What Is Music?

Our next episode is out next week, Monday October 5th, and will continue the deep-dive into Björk's fourth album!

Join the conversation on:
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Threads: https://www.threads.net/@whatismusicpod
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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 our album club 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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Donate to our podcast!
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Support the show

The Big Mates discuss soundtracks, musique concrete, the number 14, and Selmasongs by Björk. 

Adam, Steve, and Lucas continue their exploration of Björk's career by examining the soundtrack to the Lars Von Trier musical film she starred in. They talk about how she managed both jobs, how she created the music to show us the world through a character's eyes, and how she started working on songs and pieces of music that incorporated environmental noises.

What do we make of the album? How do you make a dress out of a swan? Did Björk start working on songs and pieces of music that incorporated environmental noises? Find out on this episode of What Is Music?

Our next episode is out next week, Monday September 28th, and will begin the deep-dive into Björk's fourth studio album, Vespertine.

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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 our album club 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!

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The Big Mates discuss Dogme 95, found sounds, The Mask, and Dancer in the Dark, starring Björk. 

Adam, Steve, and Lucas continue their exploration of Björk's career by examining the Lars Von Trier musical film she starred in. They talk about the cinematic style, her performance, and how she managed to balance that with writing the songs and score for the film.

What will we make of the film? What does it tell us about Björk? Is it a period piece?  Find out on this episode of What Is Music?

Our next episode is out next week, Monday September 21st, and will focus on this film's accompanying album, Selmasongs.

Join the conversation on:
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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 our album club 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!
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The Big Mates provide a smooth kind of audio accompaniment for a variety of clips from the Homogenic era of Björk’s career. 

Head to YouTube to watch along by clicking here!

Or don't watch along - the episode works fine either way!

Our next episode comes out Monday September 14th, and sees us discuss the film Dancer in the Dark!

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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 our album club 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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Support the show

The Big Mates discuss song labels, Norse mythology, single edits, and Homogenic by Björk. 

Adam, Steve, and Lucas continue their exploration of the career of Björk and their track-by-track analysis of her third studio album. 

They explore the composition, tone, lyrics, meaning, and context for each song in turn - all from three differing perspectives, from being deeply into music and analysis, to not caring for art or critique, and everything in between!

They also look at how the album was received at the time, how that legacy has been shaped over the intervening years, and how critical acclaim can affect opinion.

What do we make of the album? What did Björk do next? Should you play this in the office? Find out on this episode of What Is Music?

Our next episode is out next week, Monday September 7th, and will see us watch some Homogenic related media!

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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 our album club 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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Support the show

The Big Mates discuss dubstep, meditation, gonk pop, and Homogenic by Björk. 

Adam, Steve, and Lucas continue their exploration of the career of Björk and their track-by-track analysis of her third studio album. 

They explore the composition, tone, lyrics, meaning, and context for each song in turn - all from three differing perspectives, from being deeply into music and analysis, to not caring for art or critique, and everything in between!

They also look at how Björk collaborated on some lyrics to continue an ongoing story, her further moves into classical composition, and how she processed her feelings through songwriting. 

How important are vocals in pop music? What does Iceland sound like? Which Frou is Imogen Heap? Find out on this episode of What Is Music?

Our next episode is out next week, Monday August 31st, and will conclude our thoughts on Homogenic!

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: [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 our album club 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!
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Donate to our podcast!
https://ko-fi.com/whatismusic

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Support the show