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 Freytag Repairman 

sits fixing knobs
on a heist story.
Someone put them on
backwards 

and the crooks quiver, 
flinging bullets 
from their heads and
from their guts, 
back into the inhaling black
slabs of machine guns
held by hoods,
into the waiting pistols 
of uniformed officers 
retreating from our protagonists, 
who keep delivering
bags of diamonds 
to the bank and boxes
of bonds to a jewelry store 

until they finally settle in 
around a table, allowing 
waitresses to collect their
coffee while Henry, who recently
sent Big Ed three bullets from his own
heart and lungs, pulls from his lips, a light batter,
and slowly shapes, on a small plate,
a lemon scone 
for Edie,
his favorite server. 

It’s Always Lemon

Listen on Tidal. Listen on Spotify.

1. “Sorrow (feat. Liam Bailey)” – Joe Armon-Jones
2. “Make Me Laugh, Make Me Cry” – Souled American
3. “Ofafrii” – Out Of/Into
4. “Fires” – Blawan
5. “Electriksnippets” – Simon Fisher Turner
6. “Give Me Something” – Yoshika Colwell, The Vernon Spring
7. “Saginaw, Michigan” – Johnny Cash
8. “Movement 3” – Rebekka Karijord, Andrew Yee
9. “Fingerbib (feat. Adam Batstone” – Simon Farintosh
10. “Ladybug” – Neue Grafik
11. “Falling Down” – The Jesus Lizard
12. “The Laugh Is in the Eyes” – Julia Holter
13. “Movement 4” – Rebekka Karijord, Andrew Yee
14. “Darn That Dream” – Charles Owens Trio
15. “Six Feet of Snow” – Souled American

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.