Mentally transport yourself back to the year 2000—a transitional precipice where the physical CD was still king even as digital piracy began to loom. In this episode of pplpod, we conduct a structural archaeology of Mew’s pivotal sophomore album, Half the World is Watching Me. Before their global breakout with Frengers, this Danish alternative rock band was building a prototype for their sound on their own fiercely independent label, Evil Office. We deconstruct the unlikely pairing of the band’s angelic, choir-boy vocals with the thrash-metal discipline of Fleming Rasmussen, the legendary producer behind Metallica’s Master of Puppets. This album wasn't just a collection of songs; it was a physical artifact featuring a high-wire  ...