I’m very excited to bring you this interview. A few weeks back myself (Brian) along with my podcast co-host and friend Justin, had the opportunity to interview John Bush of Armored Saint/Category 7/ex Anthrax. We talk about growing up in Los Angeles at a very interesting time, Armored Saint, joining Anthrax and working with them, and of course, the John Bush plays Anthrax shows! Thank you John for taking the time! What a great show it was too! Our recap of The Whisky A Go Go show is here too! If you get the chance when it comes through, go see John Bush play his era of Anthrax songs. Seriously, it’s so damn good!!! Now, enjoy the interview below!!
Who doesn’t love a good shopping excursion?! Especially when the store more often than not has what you want, need, and probably shouldn’t buy. Any excuse for me to go to stores like that is a no brainer. On this shopping with Audioeclectica trip, we venture to Tarzana, CA in the San Fernando Valley to, CD Trader.
CD Trader has been in business for over 30 years and is one of the largest record stores in the greater Los Angeles area. They have quite the large selection of CD’s, vinyl, cassettes, DVD/Blu-Ray, and then some that will keep you busy as you search the aisles and shelves. Seriously, you could spend a lot of time in this store. The vinyl section is filled with quality new and used releases. Each section is organized by genre and stored well. The vinyl area has vinyl on the top and bottom to search and there are a lot to go through. The 7” section is a fun one to search through as here you’ll find some interesting gems. The walls surrounding the store are filled with choice picks from first pressings to autographed copies and some that will make you want to say “it’s only money.” The DVD/Blu-Ray section takes up a good half the store on against the surrounding walls. If you are a physical media person like myself, you’ll definitely want to stock up on movies here. This section is always full of great films and movies be it a silly one for $3 or the newest release for a good price. There is always something to find in this section even if you weren’t originally looking for it. And who can forget their CD section. Lots of choices and good prices for the used ones. The prices throughout the store are good and fair. Their long running stamp card program will get you a few dollars discount once filled. That’s always a handy thing to have! Parking is great too. There are plenty of spots up front and behind the building. CD Trader is a big and bright store that you can see what you are looking at. And on those hot summer valley days, the A/C works well! Another fun thing about this store is their community bulletin board. You’ll find out about a lot of great local events on here including Cobalt Presents shows!
I can spend a lot of time at CD Trader digging around for things on my list and the random things that aren’t. There is a lot good about this store but, that’s not to say there isn’t room for improvement. The vinyl section, as good as it is, can be a bit tough to search through at times. There are a lot of albums on the bottom shelves and while they are in alphabetical order, they aren’t very well sorted and organized by band. Also, if it’s busy in the store and section, it feels like you are being stepped on when searching the bottom rows. I do have a few ideas on how to make this work better along with an organizing it a certain way (I’m more than happy to share with the owner/manager). Sometimes when you’re shopping, the in store music choices that are played are pretty strange thus making for a bit of a weird trip to the shop. And this part doesn’t apply to all that work here but, there are a couple people that work at CD Trader that have an “elitist” vibe. It’s mainly only when you are checking out and the guy or guys give your purchase “that look” or a little off handed comment.
All in all though, CD Trader is a great store with good prices, a solidly good selection and best of all, it’s local and independent! The next time you are in the valley, stop by CD Trader and tell them Brian from Audioeclectica sent you!
Every so often a mainstream artist really surprises me. For a while now, I’ve had my hear and eyes on Yungblud. When I first heard him in 2018, I wasn’t too into what he was doing. Then as time went on and the evolution of Dominic Harrison grew, I could tell that there was more than what was happening at first. Deep down, you could tell he wasn’t going to sit idly by and let others dictate where he was to go. So instead, Yungblud/Dominic committed to his vision and went for it. The end result is the album Idols. Since I don’t believe in guilty pleasures anymore, I have to say this album is quite enjoyable and full of rather interesting songs that explore more than just a surface level that pop music usually does. Instead, digging into the bands and artists that fed into Dom becoming “Yungblud” makes Idols a great listen. The song “Zombie,” and no it’s not The Cranberries song or a cover, has really taken things to another level. The song is now nominated for a Grammy and has an all new, reimagined version that features The Smashing Pumpkins. Since this alternate version with The Smashing Pumpkins arrived last week, I’ve been stuck on it. The original version of “Zombie” already had a Pumpkins gloss to it and now, it’s fully realized with this collaboration. When Billy Corgan sings the lyrics and especially the second verse, the chills and goosebumps will appear! If you get the chance to, check out Billy’s interview show, The Magnificent Others, and watch the couple interviews he’s done with Dominic/Yungblud. They are great intereviews and gives a really good insight into who he is as a person and artist. This kid is the real deal and I’m quite interested to see what comes next! And who can forget his absolute stellar performance of Black Sabbath’s “Changes” at the Back To The Beginning concert!
Welcome to 2026 and another fantastic year of Audioeclectica! While 2025 was quite the interesting year for the world, musically it was a solid year of great albums from bands new and older. The amount of new music I heard, the shows I saw, I’m pretty stoked on what 2025 was for music. That being said, 2026 is already shaping up to be a great year for music. Before we start the fun of 26, here’s the results from the 2025 Readers Poll. Thank you to everyone that reposted, shared stories, told friends, and of course voted at the end of the day! Below are the results based on comments left and messages sent.
Cheers To A Wonderful 2026!!
See you all on here or at a show! Brian
And Now The Results Of The 2025 Audioeclectica Readers Poll:
Best Bassist: Sunny Faris- Blackwater Holylight
Best Drummer: Art Quanstrom- The Owling
Best Guitarist: Kal Michael- The Owling
Best Guitar Duo: Mike Repasch-Nieves/Joel Reynolds- SOM
Best Vocalist: Sean Ingram- Idle Heirs
Best Producer: TIE: Josh Barber- Idle Heirs and James Hammontree/Sanford Parker- Black Magnet
Best Album: TIE: Idle Heirs- Life Is Violence and The Owling- You Don’t Bow, You Will Learn
A couple weeks ago I got the chance to talk with the band Heavy Halo. Their album, Damaged Dream, came out earlier in 2025 and has not left my rotation. I’ve been really intrigued by this band. Their mix of industrial/electronic music along with 90’s alternative is infectious and gets your blood pumping. Heavy Halo will be on tour next year with My Life With The Thrill Kill Cult. Definitely go check them out!
What a great year 2025 has been for music. So many great albums, tours, songs, you name it. And now the time has come for…
The 2025 Audioeclectica End Of The Year Lists begin with the list for Best Bassist. As always the stipulation for this is that an Album or EP had to be released in 2025.
Vote for your favorite in the comments section. At the end of the month, I will release the results of the readers poll.
This list is also in NO PARTICULAR ORDER!!!
01) Hunter Burgan- AFI 02) Matt Bellinger- Nine Necks 03) Jim Baglino- Deadguy 04) Sunny Faris- Blackwater Holylight 05) Sacha Dunable- Guiltless 06) Justin Forrest- SOM 07) Sydney Moore- The Anti Groupies 08) Jordan Olds- Blood Vulture 09) Kemble Walters- Chevelle 10) Zach Cooper- Coheed And Cambria
Hi! I’m very excited to bring you episode three of The Audioeclectica Interview Series. On this episode we are joined by Andy Knapp the new singer of Snot as well as the singer of the band Stronger Than Machines. This is Andy’s first interview since becoming the singer for Snot and I couldn’t be happier to present this to you all. Listen to the interview below and be sure to check out Snot and Stronger Than Machines!
I will be at the Snot show at the Glass House on December 5th! Hope You Are Too!
The Audioeclectica Interviews Episode 003: Andy Knapp (Snot/Stronger Than Machines):
AFI has long been a band that evolves a bit more with each album. For many albums now, AFI have been adding more and more goth elements to the music and on this new album (studio album number 12), Silver Bleed The Black Sun, they have just gone full on with it and the end result is absolutely splendid. This album leans all the way into the post-punk influences of bands like The Cure, Joy Division, Sisters Of Mercy, Bauhaus and more.
While the album is short in time with ten songs and clocking in at 35 minutes, there isn’t one ounce of filler or out of place anything on Silver Bleeds The Black Sun. What you have is one of their most cohesive albums since Burials (which is one hell of a great album). Each song evokes a certain mood and vibe making this a grand listening experience. From the way the album opens with the haunting “The Bird Of Prey” all the way through the very punk “NOONEUNDERGROUND,” it’s a non stop ride. The twists and turns found throughout make it chock full of ear candy and sweet surprises. There’s a really fun 80’s vibe throughout the album too that tinges on new wave without taking away the darkness. While the lyrics are of a contemplative and dark nature as they would be courtesy of Davey Havok, musically Jade Puget, Hunter Burgan and Adam Carson have pushed past any preconceived notions of what they’ve done before and brought a very invigorating sound that is vibrant and alive while at the same time eerie and full of bite.
I could have gone track by track but I truly believe that takes away from the listening experience. Instead, put this album on and let it just take you where it needs to go. A band like AFI is quite interesting in that they never want to stay in one place for too long and get complacent. One of the things I’ve genuinely loved about this band is their willingness to take chances and explore all that they enjoy. I’ve said to people many times over the years that AFI is one of those bands that you should give a chance to even if it isn’t your normal cup of tea. Silver Bleeds The Black Sun is one of the best albums of 2025.
Overall Rating: 9/10
Stand Out Tracks: Blasphemy & Excess, Spear Of Truth, A World Unmade, NOONEUNDERGROUND
I’ve spent the past week trying to put into words about how truly amazing and stunning the two nights of Nine Inch Nails were at The Forum. Those two nights were beyond magical and therapeutic for me as well as being the 20th and 21st times I’ve seen my all time favorite band. It’s astounding to me that songs written over 30 years ago can sound so fresh and invigorating. Almost to the point of taking on a whole new meaning. What Trent Reznor has been able to do with constantly being able to captivate an audience and make a show an entire experience is otherworldly.
The stage set up for this whole tour was something else too. Staring out on a small stage in the middle of the floor, Trent appears alone, at a piano, and begins playing the most absolutely beautiful stripped down version of “Right Where It Belongs.” This is one of those songs in the Nine Inch Nails catalog that will make tears start flowing and choke you up. Just when you thought it was over though, Trent pulls out my another stripped down song in “Somewhat Damaged.” Now this is my all time favorite Nine Inch Nails song and when I say this was emotional, I truly mean it. So much so that in the first 5 minutes of the show both nights, the tears were definitely filling up my eyes. From there another stripped down song in “Ruiner,” followed by the “Nothing Can Stop Me Now” remix of “Piggy” which can be found don the Further Down The Spiral remix album. I always love when Trent pulls out these versions live. It adds so much more of an extra dimension to the songs and live show.
At this point, the crowd was in the palm of Trent’s hands and then a full on onslaught of heaviness in the form of “Wish,” “March Of The Pigs,” “Reptile,” Heresy,” “Copy Of A” and “Gave Up.” It doesn’t matter how many times in my life I’ve heard those songs be it on album or live, I always seem to go apeshit. And at these 2 shows, oh did I. The way this part started with “Wish” and ended with “Gave Up” put it this way, if you still had a voice after these songs, you weren’t loud enough. By the end of “Reptile” on night one and by the end of “Wish” on night two, my voice was gone!
Then after that part of the set, Trent and Atticus moved back to the middle stage where they were joined by Boyz Noize for a set of songs that were remixed in a very awesome way. The highlight of this part was when they played “Vessel” from the very underrated and unsung masterpiece that is Year Zero. This had the crowd in a dancing frenzy. The crowd of course went nuts for “Closer” but the audience pop during the new song “As Alive As I Need You To Be” was something else. Closing out that portion was a really great remix version of “Came Back Haunted.” If you haven’t ever really given Hesitation Marks a listen, you should.
As the band headed back to the main stage after that awesome remix set, Trent and company unleashed more awesomeness with even more intensity as the band blasted “Mr. Self Destruct,” “Less Than, and “The Perfect Drug” into the stratosphere. Having Josh Freese back on the drums in Nine Inch Nails is like having him back home. Josh’s ferocious performance of “The Perfect Drug” is one of those that should be studied and watched a zillion times. It’s that good. Rounding out the set was the always fun “I’m Afraid Of American’s” which is quite the relevant song in the days we live in. As well as the staples of “The Hand That Feeds,” “Head Like A Hole,” and “Hurt.”
I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk about the production of the tour. The lights, visuals, performances, and energy of the whole thing was unlike anything I’ve been to all year. You could tell that this tour was meaningful in a myriad of different ways. Trent even said, he wasn’t going to do a tour unless it was something that was substantial. And oh boy was it. As I mentioned these were my 20th and 21st times seeing Nine Inch Nails and I can honestly say this tour is in my top five NIN shows of all time! Thank you Trent, Atticus, Robin, Josh and Alessandro for two nights of absolute gold! I can’t wait till the next time!
Overall Rating: A
Review and Photos By: Brian Lacy
Set List (Same For Both Nights): 01) Right Where It Belongs (with Somewhat Damaged) 02) Ruiner 03) Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now Remix) 04) Wish 05) March Of The Pigs 06) Reptile 07) Heresy 08) Copy Of A 09) Gave Up 10) Vessel (Remix) 11) Closer (Remix) 12) As Alive As You Need Me To Be 13) Came Back Haunted (Remix) 14) Mr. Self Destruct 15) Less Than 16) The Perfect Drug 17) I’m Afraid Of Americans (David Bowie Cover) 18) The Hand That Feeds 19) Head Like A Hole 20) Hurt
Welcome to episode 10 of The Audioeclectica Podcast! It’s been quite fun to be doing this. Myself and Justin thank you all for taking the time to listen and laugh! On this episode, we get into some really fun topics including why every band needs a Lars Ulrich, annoying people at concerts, as well as a favorite topic of ours, Dave Mustaine of Megadeth!
Be sure to check out our Top 5 Albums Of The Episode:
Brian’s Picks: 01) Nine Necks- Ritual/Demise 02) Institute- Distort Yourself 03) Baroness- Stone 04) Interpol- Turn On The Bright Lights 05) Filth Is Eternal- Find Out
