Playback with Black Market Dub

In this episode we dive into Tame Impala’s Currents and ask the big fan question: are you Team Pre-Currents ( Innerspeaker / Lonerism ) or Team Post-Currents ( Currents / The Slow Rush and beyond)? We talk about how Kevin Parker shifted from guitar-heavy psych rock into synth-driven psychedelic pop, how the album functions as a breakup record and a “changing your whole life” record at the same tim...

In this episode we dig into Jimi Hendrix’s First Rays of the New Rising Sun and ask a big question: should this count as his true fourth album, or is it just the best posthumous compilation we have? We talk about the songs Hendrix was working on at the end of his life, the Electric Lady era, and how these tracks were originally scattered across posthumous releases like The Cry of Love , Rainbow Br...

In this episode we dive into Isaac Hayes’ 1971 double album Black Moses and talk about why he should be remembered first and foremost as a revolutionary musician , not just a pop-culture character. We dig into the story of Stax Records , how Hayes went from staff writer/producer to solo trailblazer, and how Black Moses expands on the ideas of Hot Buttered Soul : long, cinematic arrangements, slow-...

In this episode we dive into Pearl Jam’s 1998 album Yield and get into a real disagreement over whether it’s a must-listen classic or just a really solid “pretty good” Pearl Jam record . We talk guitar tones, riffs, the state of the band in the late ’90s, and how Yield fits into the run of Ten , Vs. , Vitalogy , No Code and beyond. We also get into the more collaborative songwriting on this record...

In this episode we dive into Nine Inch Nails’ debut Pretty Hate Machine and talk about how the album’s lyrical pain, resentment and breakup energy are baked directly into the music. We get into Trent Reznor’s one-man-band studio approach, the way he blends industrial noise with pop song structures, and why this record still feels weirdly emotional and human under all the distortion and drum machin...

In this episode we sit down for a first-time listen to Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band’s Trout Mask Replica fully expecting to hate it… and instead realize, almost in real time, that it might be one of the most genius things we’ve ever heard. We talk about how this album somehow turns total-sounding chaos into tightly composed music, the cult-like conditions the band rehearsed under, and th...

In this episode we dive into The Misfits’ Static Age , the first full-length they ever recorded but the last of the classic-era albums to be officially released. We talk about the band’s early history, the C.I. Recordings sessions in 1978, and how this entire album sat on the shelf for years while individual songs like “Bullet,” “We Are 138,” “Attitude” and “Hollywood Babylon” leaked out on EPs an...

In this episode we dive into David Bowie’s final studio album Blackstar (★) and talk about what it means to turn your own death into a piece of art. We look at how Bowie recorded the album in secret with a New York jazz band, released it on his 69th birthday, and died two days later—instantly reframing Blackstar as a deliberate farewell. We talk about the lyrics, the videos, the band, and how this...

In this episode we dive into Paul Simon’s 1986 classic Graceland and sit with both sides of it: the undeniable musical genius and the apartheid-era controversy around how it was made. We talk about Simon travelling to South Africa during the cultural boycott, recording with Black South African musicians, and blending their styles with his own songwriting into a world-changing pop album. Then we di...

In this episode we kick off Playback by diving into Bob Dylan’s Christmas album Christmas in the Heart , a record most people joked about… until they actually heard it. We talk about how Dylan leans fully into the old-school Christmas-album tradition—choirs, classic arrangements, big-band vibes—filtered through his late-career voice, and why the result is way more sincere and moving than you’d exp...

Hey everyone! Welcome to PLAYBACK! This is a teaser trailer for our first Patreon-only episode. To hear the full episode and video version, please go to: Patreon.com/blackmarketdub and subscribe at the $5 tier for access. Full, non-Patreon exclusive episodes will be posted everywhere you enjoy your podcasts bi-weekly. In this episode, we discuss the show's format, pick which album we will discuss...