Sublime eclectic mayhem. That’s been my playlist project and musical life, one that begins with The Muppet Movie soundtrack and later involves performing hymns, death metal, surf, and bluegrass. I’ve played in theaters, tents, and basements, for multi-stage festivals and squirrel rodeos. I’ve written and recorded music for The Drunken Odyssey. Sublime eclectic mayhem. A warning and a welcome for joyous noise, for those navigating what Beckett called “this bitch of an earth.”

The dogs would not go
into the woods this morning.
Maybe it was the early chill.

But it is the place where we
sometimes stare down
or give ground to a feral pack. 

I tell them to go back
to their no-home and 
they offer a cur’s wince
and a spill of hot piss. 

All that was missed today 
for something else in the air. 

Some shade or trace
making crisp the pact
between ours and theirs,

or maybe the first taste 
of a new, still concealed contract. 

The Last Time Leland Danced

Listen on Tidal. Listen on Spotify.

1. “Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss” – Wade Ward and Glen Smith
2. “Main Title (from Knight Rider)” – Stu Phillips
3. “A Bit Like James Bond” – The Bug Club
4. “Witches Wear High Hats” – Slasher Dave
5. “Mairzy Doats” – The Four King Sisters
6. “Turn It Up Tonite” – Curren$y, DJ Fresh, Dej Loaf
7. “Darth Vader’s Theme” – Irwin the Dynamic Duck
8. “KITT Vs. Horse” – Stu Phillips
9. “Mairzy Doats” – Zero the Clown
10. “Burn the Sun” – Virgin Steele
11. “Plane” – Lia Kohl
12. “Prison” – Teeth
13. “Under the Strikes” – Yannis & The Yaw, Tony Allen
14. “A Ballet Through Mud” – RZA, Colorado Symphony, Christopher Dragon
15. “Speedin’ West” – Speedy West
16. “Punishment Map” – Nails
17. “Multifolds” – Seefeel
18. “Missommernattsdrøm” – Tusmørke
19. “Mairzy Doats” – Dodie Stevens

Stephen McClurg (Episode 473) composes and improvises in Serenity Dagger, The Abdomen, and other projects. Along with session work for mid-Alabama singer/songwriters, he frequently collaborates with musicians across the state adding bass, guitar, and synths to friends’ recordings. He currently writes reviews for Horror DNA and is the substitute low end wrangler for Mobile-based punk rock band Future Hate. You can find out more about his work here.