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 Kiss

What more can a kiss
do? Can it cure the insecure,
securing wedded bliss?
Are the half-parted lips
the strings of the overture
spanning the abyss?

Kissed and Cured

Listen on Tidal. Listen on Spotify.

1. “Going Going Gong” – J.J. Johnson, Kai Winding
2. “Romantic Theme (Shalimar)” – R. D. Burman
3. “Transparency and Staining” – Zeena Parkins
4. “Ken Ki (Aka Katana Maldita)” – Hajime Kaburagi
5. “Boy with the Stolen Face” – Wayne County and the Electric Chairs
6. “Haunted America II” – Panopticon
7. “Peace” – Walter Arties
8. “I Am a Photograph” – Amanda Lear
9. “Blind Woman S Curse” – Hajime Kaburagi (“Rokudan” – Zumi-Kai on Spotify)
10. “Animal Day” – Wall of Voodoo
11. “Aerge Facere Alci” – Abruptum
12. “Liszt: Grandes études de Paganini, S. 141: III. La campanella. Allegretto” – Nobuyuki Tsujii
13. “Leo” – Alice Coltrane

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.