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.”

VI.       Sections excised from Milton’s Paradise Lost include a sequence with a demon warrior 

fashioning a weapon to sever the wings from angels. Stating this demon’s name became an invocation in which Milton, then blind, saw the smoking dagger in his mind’s eye. He recanted his verses. The unholy weapon is said to be of the split-blade variety similar to circumcision knives.

The Split-Blade Verses

Listen on Tidal. Listen on Spotify.

1. “It’ll Shine When It Shines” – The Ozark Mountain Daredevils
2. “In The Aisles” – However
3. “Luchadores Sudden Embrace” – Alberto Novello, Rob Mazurek
4. “Cracking the Jaw” – Eli Winter
5. “Rite of Spring” – Final Dose
6. “Al Dollarji” – Charif Megarbane
7. “PHANTOM ROOM” – HHY & The Kampala Unit
8. “No Sun To Burn (for brass)” – Kali Malone
9. “Seishoku Nyu” – Merzbow
10. “THERE ARE SOME WORLDS WHERE ALL DREAMS DIE” – Mats Gustafsson, Joachim Nordwell
11. “The JB’s Tribute Pastor P” – Bootsy Collins
12. “Lighthouse” – Tara Nome Doyle
13. “Kong (feat. Burgess Meredith)” – Jeff Bridges
14. “Outer Spaceways, Inc.” – Flying Vipers

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.