Carl Sagan’s Ghost – At the End of it All (2009)

Download from Soft Phase

1. At the End of it All (guitar Travis Hartnett: http://www.myspace.com/travishartnett)
2. Increasing Presure
3. Hallowed & Hungry
4. Solitude I
5. Solitude II
6. The Patience of a Saint I (Field Recording on parts I and II by Specta Ciera: http://www.myspace.com/spectaciera)
7. The Patience of a Saint II
8. The Patience of a Saint III
9. Take a Moment (guitar Travis Harnett)

Notes:
At the End of it All is an album birthed out of failure.  Two failures, really.

The first failure was in it’s theme.  Initially, this album was supposed to be an atmospheric celebration of Spring and Summer, something warm, something happy.  However, that didn’t quite pan out.  As I began to compose and then finalize these compositions, I noticed that the album was taking on a darker tone.  What I ended up with was an album that seemed to contemplate death.  One could argue that things do die in the Summer, due to a lack of watering, but honestly this album does not remind me of the Summer months at all – it surely belongs to the months of October and November.

However, I should mention that I don’t think the album is overly depressing.  It is somber, but there is still a hint of hope and happiness in a number of songs.  This probably stems from my own personal belief that death is not the end, but simply a new beginning.

When I first thought of doing this album, I envisioned it as a collaborative project between my friend Ryan Tallman and me.  I thought it would be fun to pass unfinsihed tracks back and forth.  I was anxious to get things going and so I began to compose and tweak, and tweak, and fine tune, and compose some more.  Before I knew it, a few of the tracks were finished.  I sent some stuff to Ryan, but he was busy with his wife having a baby.  That was cool, I thought I could wait.  But being the impatient musician that I am, I continued to work on the album until it was completely finished.  Failure number 2 – a collaborative effort became a singular one.

At the End of it All represents a turning point for the Carl Sagan’s Ghost project; turning into what I really don’t know.  For one, recording this album has rekindled my love for the guitar; a number of the compositions feature guitar, far more than my earlier ambient efforts.  The final track, Take a Moment, is almost entirely made from sounds generated by the guitar, mostly played by Travis Hartnett, and manipulated by yours truly.

The centerpiece of the album is a nearly 30-minute long composition called The Patience of a Saint.  Ironically enough, this piece tried my patience more than any song I’ve ever recorded.  I went through at least five different versions of Part III before finally nailing it (I hope), and the entire thing existed just out of reach.  I’d compose, mix, and master, taking a few steps forward, only to find that I’d actually taken a few steps back.  But at the end of it all, it came together, and now I’m quite proud of it.  This composition will actually be one that I will perform live sometime in early 2010.  I’m getting a full band together, and turning it into an hour-long performance.  This will be recorded live and released next year.

Enjoy the listen, and thanks for your time.