The title of this track is inspired by a quote from Thomas Robert Malthus (see below). Malthus is often depicted as a prophet of doom, but he was a realist who understood the power of a single seed.

When I see a seed, I always think of Malthus and this quote. Life from our planet has the potential to spread to the stars, possibly through the agency of humanity or through our creations (such as Artificial Intelligence / Robotics / Molecular Nanotechnology Assemblers, Genetically Engineered Humans etc).

"Through the animal and vegetable kingdoms, nature has scattered the seeds of life abroad with the most profuse and liberal hand.... The germs of existence contained in this spot of earth, with ample food, and ample room to expand in, would fill millions of worlds in the course of a few thousand years."

— Thomas Malthus, 1798. "An Essay on the Principle of Population".

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Richard Dawkins shared a similar sentiment in "Rivers Out Of Eden" (1995):

"We humans are an extremely important manifestation of the replication bomb, because it is through us - through our brains, our symbolic culture and our technology - that the explosion may proceed to the next stage and reverberate through deep space."

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K. Eric Drexler, of nanotechnology fame, has something similar to say (this was in the context of life spreading to the stars) - Engines Of Creation (1990):

"Although endless exponential growth remains a fantasy, the spread of life and civilization faces no fixed bound. Expansion will proceed, if we survive, because we are part of a living system and life tends to spread."

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Photograph - Rachel Coutts-Bollen, 2018.

I love creating these creepy soundtrack pieces, ideal for fantasy role-players! Or for a movie.

Enjoy!

I've read "Origin Of Species" (as it's often called), and I really enjoyed it. Perhaps a few too many mentions of pigeons (with respect to the analogous argument of artificial selection by pigeon breeders), but I love it.

So, I've finally attempted a rock track inspired by Darwin's book, and everything that followed. Most of the words in the track are Darwin's, taken from "Origin Of Species. (1859)" I also mention Darwin's "The Descent Of Man" (1871).

Darwin's book was in part inspired by Reverend Thomas Robert Malthus who had published "An Essay On The Principle Of Population" back in 1798 when Earth's human population was approaching one billion. Indeed, Alfred Russel Wallace (co-discoverer of the theory of evolution in 1858, and published his book "Darwinism" in 1889) was also inspired by reading Malthus, as noted in a letter dated 3rd December 1887:

"The most interesting coincidence in the matter, I think, is, that I as well as Darwin, was led to the theory itself through Malthus..."

Darwin was a great admirer of Malthus, as am I. Hence the mention of Malthus in my track. I wrote about Darwin's views on Malthus here:

http://members.optusnet.com.au/exponentialist/Darwin_Malthus.htm

A very gentle piece with an air of mystery.

All instruments played by me in Logic Pro X.

Art cropped from:

"I love black white" by claudiadea131 on Flickr

A very dark track, this is true. Forlorn, full of despair.

But it's called "An End To Hope", not "The End To Hope".

Hope will resurface...it always does.

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Art cropped from "Untitled relief" by Zdzislaw Beksinski (1957):

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Untitled_relief_by_Zdzislaw_Beksinski_1957.jpg

I was thinking about atoms and electrons, and quantum entanglement (what Einstein referred to as "spooky action at a distance").

It's a real thing, proven experimentally. Two particles that interact become 'entangled'. Then, separate them by ANY distance, and what happens to one affects the other instantaneously.

It sounds like love to me!

Turn off your thoughts, disconnect your brain. Relax, relax...

As I created this track I got the sense of a majestic dragon in flight, and it was unstoppable! It was cosmic!

There's lots of synths (including lead, pads and arps) in this one, and "Big Electric Lead" guitar, all played manually in Logic Pro X. I created the rock drum track using Logic's "Drummer" editor.

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Image: Concept art done for 'Sintel' (a movie for the Blender Foundation)by David Revoy.

This is collaboration with my friend Smitty formerly from Pagans Pentacles and a Dragon. You can find his original version here:

Smitty (now Odin's Reaper) can be now found here - https://soundcloud.com/user-smitjam

I added two guitars tracks because...you know...you can never have enough guitars!

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Image cropped from "Alex Kingston as Boudica, Queen of the Iceni, at Colchester Castle" by Ben Sutherland, Flickr

https://www.flickr.com/photos/bensutherland/6173412443

This track is dedicated to my friend Smitty of Pagans Pentacles and a Dragon https://soundcloud.com/paganspentaclesandadragon. He created a cover version of Ghost's "Square Hammer" which you can find here:

https://soundcloud.com/paganspentaclesandadragon/ghost-square-hammer-one-rhythm-part

Smitty's version is uses the bass and drum backing track from here youtu.be/OyYA8FlfBd0

Smitty then added the Hagstrom guitar.

He mentioned that he'd like to see some keyboards added to the track, so I thought I'd oblige and I added two keyboard tracks.

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Image modified from: Nameless Ghouls - Coachella 2013.

I hid some plastic water bottles in front of the keyboard player's feet, and added "dacca" to the keyboard and "Smitty" to the guitar. That's right...we're not really in the band!