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.”

Most Days

My memory, a gumball machine,
uses tokens, not real coins. 

The blue gum tastes like sky, what else? 
And more than a hint of blueberry. 
Sometimes the core tastes of iron,
the smell of hands on swingset chains.

The red is cherry, cough syrup,
the perfume on the red curtains
Meemaw had, the corners
of a first Valentine card.

The yellow tastes of dandelions,
warm car seats, the stale tinkle
of a porch light.

These green ones are sour apples 
and scabbed knees, 
sometimes electrical fires.

The kids want tokens, tokens, tokens,
and most days I hand them mine.

Most Days
Listen on Tidal. Listen on Spotify.

1. “Mistress Mine” – Eyvind Kang
2. “Masth Chantani” – Alfonso Soliano
3. “Atonement” – Giuliano Sorgini
4. “Flower” – Emily Wittbrodt, Jonas Gerigk, Alfredo Ardia, Moritz Koch, Darius Heid
5. “Stalk” – Mowg
6. “Ya Banat” – Kazdoura
7. “Music from the film ‘cosmos’” – Eduard Artemyev, Stanislav Kreitchi
8. “Mungu” – Jay Mitta
9. “A Point of Null Entropy” – George Cartwright
10. “Statue Down” – Alex Cameron
11. “Freddie Freeloader” – Nicholas Payton, Butcher Brown
12. “May 26, 2025: vi.” – Kenneth Kirschner
13. “Maguro” – Anthony Braxton, James Emery
14. “Mary of Magdalen” – Eyvind Kang
15. “Retro Beauty (Jukebox)” – Pino Dinaggio

Stephen McClurg (Episode 473 & 666) composes and improvises inSerenity 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.