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.”

KNIFE!: Footnotes to the Hidden Mythology of Bladesmithing: Man’s First Tool

II. During the Age of Social Revolt, we saw the rise of the giallo, a theater of pseudo-Freudian psychosexual catharsis. The male faces social or symbolic castration or erectile dysfunction. The blade, the secret and sacred phallus used to perform various rites, is the weapon of choice. Today, Beowulf’s blade is whetted or melted through pharmacology or fantasy football.

Secret and Sacred

Listen on Tidal. Listen on Spotify.

1. “Tennessee Weeper” – Kelsey Rae Copland
2. “You Always Stand In My Way” – Aphrodite’s Child
3. “Le Danse du Bonheur” – Anupam Shobhakar
4. “Real Time Show” – Adjustable Mustard
5. “Spit A Kiss” – Scratch Acid
6. “Rubber Boots” – Silke Eberhard, Jan Roder, Kay Lübke
7. “Silly Walk” – Sylvie Courvoisier, Mary Halvorson
8. “Gånglåt” – Fläsket Brinner
9. “#14” – Fred Moten, Brandon Lopez
10. “Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child (Live)” – Sun Ra
11. “Salt (Live)” – Stefan Keune, Sandy Ewen, Damon Smith
12. “Jacob’s Ladder: II. Vayachalom (And he dreamed) ” – Steve Reich
13. “Walking Down the Line” – The Seldom Scene

Stephen McClurg (Episode 473 & 666) 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.