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.”

In School, the Rain Is at Least Something

One, two, three, four drops falling. 
I let my eyes wander

to the windows and think about
the story my aunt told me.
A deer, confused, in the schoolyard
ran and jumped through a window.

On the wall, dinosaurs rumble
and forage. On the wall, in lightly illustrated rain,
an allosaurus stalks a mob of deer. 

Its teeth shine like glass and I think
of the other deer, dazed and buckling and bleeding,
in a room of bean bags, clay,
and dirty thumbs. 

On the wall, a frog has shed its skin
and bears its muscle, veins, nerves, and heart.
It’s on its back–

The rain taps the window and we
count: 99, 110, 127, 132. 
On Friday, we will watch movies 
of rivers, red balloons, and rain. 

Shedding Skin

Listen on Tidal. Listen on Spotify.

1. “Gaivotas” – Rival Consoles
2. “Open Wide” – Nowhere Squares
3. “The Six” – Colin Stetson
4. “All the Bones Had Names” – Roy Nathanson, Nick Hakim
5. “Super Breath” – Karen O, Danger Mouse
6. “elysian fields” – They Are Gutting a Body of Water
7. “Love Me Not” – Ravyn Lenae
8. “Peace Corps” – Show Me the Body, Alli Logout
9. “Walkin’” – Silver Apples
10. “Thirteen” – Eric Dolphy, Mal Waldron, Booker Ervin
11. “Martyrs, Badgers & Other Rodents” – SpermChurch
12. “You Never Let Me Down” – Trampled By Turtles
13. “Tebi Majko Misli Lete” – Branko Mataja
14. “Bird On The Wire” – Bill Frisell
15. “Wee” – Charles Mingus

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.