The best of both blaster beam worlds
So I’ve been listening to the recently remastered, reissued and expanded version of the soundtrack of the Star Trek: The Next Generation two-parter The Best Of Both Worlds lately. Wonderful stuff. The original 1991 release of that soundtrack was one of the first compact discs I ever bought, even though I didn’t have a CD player at the time. What I did have was two worn-out cassettes I’d bought (because I was listening to it that much), and a job at a radio station that afforded me access to a CD player and a cassette deck that would allow me to make as many tape copies as I needed (so I could wear them out too).
In listening to the reissue, with its crisper sound, I was struck by how, if ever there was a point in ST:TNG’s normally staid musical landscape (though not by the composers’ choice) where they needed to break out of the producer-imposed box and use some blaster beam, this was it. So I tried a few subtle amendments to a few key points in the soundtrack from part one. (During the infamous cliffhanger music, however, I was a bit less than subtle. There’s nothing about that cue that’s subtle.)
Listen and enjoy!
[audio:https://www.thelogbook.com/earl/podcast/beamofbothworlds.mp3]
If you’ve been following my other music project at all, you’re in for a treat next week. Not only will the next Kasatochi release land with a resounding digitized thud on Monday, but it will be joined by a similar effort from Rhindle The Red, so you’ll be getting twice the hits-to-bits treatment that you would get on a typical Monday. (Let’s face it – Mondays suck so hard, it’s not a bad idea to call for backup.)
In both cases, both Kasatochi and Rhindle will be embarking on an interesting experiment: each release will turn an entire classic album into chiptunes, from the first track to the last, in 
the original running order. Suffice to say, if you like either of the groups in question, you’ll probably get at least a chuckle out of this. Further full-album chiptune conversions are also in the works, though how many more depends on how well these go down. Be here Monday – chances are, you already know the track listings! … Read more
Just in time for the release of Star Trek: Into Darkness, I thought it’d be fun to reach into an alternate universe and whip out a soundtrack from that mirror universe’s vastly superior library of Star Trek video games. (I make little secret of my opinion that a lot of licensed Trek games are big piles of steaming salt monster excrement.) In this other universe, virtually every movie and series has had a knockout video game based on it, with outstanding music from some of the big screen’s finest composers. Here, then, is an entire full-album-length chiptune tribute to the Star Trek universe from Kasatochi, free for download. … 
Because everything goes better with blaster beam. Well, maybe not everything. I’m not going to drop some beam on top of “Call Me Maybe” (though I’ve no doubt it would be an immense improvement). The song has to have a sound that lends itself to having this weird sound in the middle of it – there has to be a certain style of arrangement and, you know, it wouldn’t hurt if it fit thematically. 
A few weeks ago, La-La Land Records released a definitive, long-overdue 3-CD edition of the soundtrack of 1979’s Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and you better believe I snapped a copy of that mother up – it’s my #2 favorite soundtrack of all time (next only to The Empire Strikes Back). Near the end of the third disc is a track isolating the sound of the blaster beam from the rest of the orchestra. Anytime in the first Trek movie you hear something that sounds like a cross between an electric guitar and the gates of hell opening, that’s the beam, baby. … 