Playback with Black Market Dub

Brandon's pick, and the one that floored Nate — a lifelong reggae obsessive who'd somehow never heard it. The Mighty Diamonds' 1976 debut Right Time is the record that finally made Channel One work, a study in minimalism, and home to some of the most beautiful vocal-trio singing ever recorded. It also pulls off a strange, gorgeous trick: sweet, wistful melodies wrapped around lyrics about judgment...

Before Bob Marley conquered the world, Jimmy Cliff was the number one man in reggae. Wonderful World, Beautiful People (known outside the US as the self-titled Jimmy Cliff) is the most secular, least Rasta record we've covered for Reggae Summer — and the album where Cliff brought protest and political consciousness into reggae before anyone else. It's "happy music, sad lyrics," it contains two of...

Reggae Summer Vol. 2 kicks off with Peter Tosh's 1976 debut, Legalize It — and we've got a guest. Brian Wallace, aka Dub Robot, returns for his second appearance on the show (he joined us last year for Exodus): a saxophonist, engineer, and the man who taught us reggae in the first place. Brandon's pick is the first solo album from the Wailer who never softened the message — recorded with what's es...

Nate picked it (and is going through a breakup as we record this), Brandon was the engineer on a week of rehearsals with this exact band years ago, and we both arrived at the same hot take: Sea Change is not actually a stripped-down album. This week on Playback: Beck — Sea Change (2002). The breakup record. The eighth Beck album. The one where the goofy Devil's Haircut rapping-in-Spanish funk guy...

Brandon picked it, Nate had never really listened to it, and our guest, Patrick Simon (musician, audio engineer, and Brandon's bandmate of a bazillion years) is a full-on Supertramp nerd. So we're putting Breakfast in America on Playback. This week: Supertramp – Breakfast in America (1979) — the album that turned a band of British transplants into the biggest pop act on Earth, sold 20 million copi...

We did it — we put Michael Jackson on Playback. This week, Nate picked Bad (1987) — Michael Jackson's seventh album, his third and final collaboration with Quincy Jones, and the impossible follow-up to Thriller. The album where MJ wrote "100 MILLION" on his bathroom mirror, almost talked Prince into singing the first verse of the title track, and produced five #1 singles in a row — a record that s...

We're back from a short break and we came loaded — we relistened to the entire Gorillaz catalogue, caught them live at The Palladium in Los Angeles performing their new album The Mountain in full, and visited the House of Kong Exhibition before sitting down to record. On this episode we cover Plastic Beach: the production, our favorite tracks, our hot takes on what doesn't work, the full arc of Go...

On this episode of Playback, we dig into Philosophy of the World by The Shaggs — and we don't let it off easy. We break down the legend of Austin Wiggin and the palm reading prophecy that supposedly destined his daughters for fame. We get into the music technically: what's going wrong, what's surprisingly going right, and what their relationship to rhythm and melody actually tells us. We put the r...

In this episode we dive into The Prodigy’s The Fat of the Land and break down why it still sounds so explosive, distinct, and revolutionary decades later. We lay out what we call the “5 elements” that make these recordings hit so hard: sampling synths menu diving / sound design decisions performance sequencing Instead of just treating this as a classic 90s big beat record, we get into the actual c...

In this episode we dive into Grace Jones’ 1981 album Nightclubbing and talk about why it’s one of the most important art-pop records of all time. We dig into Grace Jones as a performer and as a queer, androgynous icon – how she can seamlessly code-switch between fashion runways, queer clubs, Jamaican roots, downtown NY art scenes and mainstream pop. We talk about the Compass Point sound (Sly &...

In this episode we dive into David Allan Coe’s Longhaired Redneck , one of the defining records of the 1970s outlaw country era—and a great lens for talking about how myth, image and real-life controversy collide. We get into the sound and songwriting on the album, the “longhaired redneck” persona Coe leans into, and what makes this record musically compelling even as his broader catalog and legac...

Massive SPOILERS for this movie right away, so do yourself a favor and go see it! One Battle After Another, the new film by Paul Thomas Anderson, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Chase Infinity, Sean Penn, and Benicio Del Toro, is EASILY my favorite film of 2025. Today on the show, Brandon and I discuss all our favorite aspects of the film, its meanings and intentions, and where it sits in our PTA rank...

Oasis are back on a massive reunion tour, so we went back to the album that made them stadium legends: (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? In this episode of Playback , Nate and Brandon dig into how this record actually holds up in 2020s headphones. We talk about the songwriting, the wall-of-guitars production, Noel vs Liam dynamics, Britpop history, and whether Morning Glory is truly a masterpiece...

Ween fans, this one’s for you. In this episode of Playback , Nate and Brandon are joined by comedian and podcaster Kyle Clark ( This Is Rad ) to dive into The Mollusk , Ween’s watery, proggy, sea-shanty psych masterpiece. We talk about why this record has such a cult following, how tightly written and arranged it actually is under all the goofiness, and what makes Ween so good at jumping genres wi...

Parliament at peak powers. In this episode we dive into Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome , the 1977 P-Funk classic where George Clinton turns a whole philosophy of funk vs. “placebo” disco and consumerism into a wild concept album. We talk about the P-Funk mythology (Sir Nose d’Voidoffunk, the Placebo Syndrome, the idea of funk as real life-force), how this ties together tracks like “Bop Gun...

We close out our Reggae Summer series with a deep dive into Third World’s classic album 96 Degrees in the Shade . As reggae musicians ourselves, we talk about why this record hits so hard: the roots foundation, the crossover melodies, the political fire in the title track, and the band’s unique place between Kingston and the broader “world music” market. We’re joined by special guest John Roy of E...

In this Reggae Summer episode we dive into The Congos’ Heart of the Congos , widely considered one of the greatest roots reggae albums ever recorded – and we treat it primarily as a Lee “Scratch” Perry story . We talk about the Black Ark era, Perry’s production style, and how he used tape, echo and atmosphere to create a spiritual, otherworldly sound around Cedric Myton and Roy “Ashanti” Johnson’s...

Today we're so excited to present our interview with the legendary SCIENTIST! Hopeton Overton Brown (also known as Scientist) grew up working in and around some of the most remarkable studios in Jamaica under the tutelage of "Coxone" Dodd, King Tubby, and has mixed some of the most renowned albums in Jamaican history. In addition to his mix work, Scientist also produced a string of some of the gre...

In this Reggae Summer episode we dive into Wailing Souls’ Fire House Rock and lay out our theory of the “Four Horsemen of Reggae” – the four forces we think are responsible for some of the greatest reggae music ever recorded. Using Fire House Rock as a case study, we talk about the combination of Channel One Studio & the Hoo Kim brothers, producer Henry “Junjo” Lawes, engineer Scientist, and t...

In this Reggae Summer episode we dive into Culture’s classic album Two Sevens Clash , one of the most important roots reggae records of the 1970s. We use the album as a jumping-off point to talk about the Marcus Garvey prophecy behind the title track, the apocalyptic fear around July 7, 1977 (when “the two sevens clash”) , and how that shaped life in Jamaica at the time. We get into how Joseph Hil...

In this Reggae Summer episode we dive into Gregory Isaacs’ 1982 classic Night Nurse and ask whether it might be the best reggae album of the 1980s . We talk about The Cool Ruler as one of the most prolific and distinctive voices in reggae, his lovers rock style, his tragic personal decline, and how Night Nurse captures him at a creative peak. We also dig into the musicianship of Roots Radics , the...

TWe kick off our Reggae Summer series with Bob Marley & The Wailers’ 1977 masterpiece Exodus and ask a big question: is this the single best album to give someone who’s never heard reggae before? We’re joined by Brian “Dub Robot” Wallace – LA reggae/dub musician, producer and mastering engineer – to talk about Jamaican culture, Rastafari, the political moment around the album, and why Exodus s...

FULL Bonus episode announcing our full slate of albums we'll be covering for the first annual REGGAE SUMMER! For full episodes, bonus video episodes, and more content, please subscribe to our Patreon page: Patreon.com/Blackmarketdub To listen to our music, visit: blackmarketdub.bandcamp.com For vinyl purchases and more: escapehatchrecords.com

In this episode we dig into The Strokes’ Room on Fire and argue that it’s way more compositionally sophisticated than its “garage rock” reputation suggests. We’re joined by Matty Greg (musician and YouTuber known for his Strokes theory breakdowns) to talk about how the guitars, bass and vocals often function like SATB parts —melody, inner voices and bass line all weaving together with shocking pre...

In this episode we dive into Beach House’s 2010 breakthrough Teen Dream and talk about why it hits so hard both musically and emotionally. We break down the musicianship and production —Victoria Legrand’s voice and keys, Alex Scally’s guitar and counter-melodies, the live drums and synth textures—and how all of that supports the record’s heavy emotional core. We also talk about how this album help...