Experiment 18: Waltz in Spades

This episode follows the creation of a new song built around the Stylophone, a small electronic instrument first introduced by Dubreq in 1968. The prompt led to an experiment with the instrument’s buzzy, unstable tone and its connection to retro electronic texture. The song was written during May 2026, while preparing full backing tracks for Porchfest. A halftime/doubletime drum feel helped shape the track’s rhythmic foundation. A May 10 Failure concert at Cat’s Cradle became a major influence on the arrangement. The episode traces the band’s impact, from Magnified and Fantastic Planet through their reunion albums, with attention to how Ken Andrews and Greg Edwards balance melody, structure, atmosphere, and weight. The production approach centered on giving each instrument a distinct role. The drums create movement, the distorted bass carries melodic weight, the guitars occupy the upper register, and the Stylophone functions as a central voice. The final arrangement includes a distorted bass line, upper-register guitar textures, a guitar part doubling the Stylophone riff, and a post-bridge harmony line. The episode also connects the song to Ulysses by James Joyce, especially the minor comic figure Mr. Breen and his nightmare phrase: “The ace of spades went walking up the stairs.” “Waltz in Spades” imagines that nightmare as a song: fluorescent lights, bodily unease, absurd violence, dream logic, guilt, memory, and an unresolved revelation. The result is a Stylophone-driven nightmare waltz shaped by Failure’s arrangement lessons and Joyce’s strange comic darkness. Send me a Text Message.