Here’s another selection from the Wii/PS2 game Star Trek Conquest. In contrast to last week’s anthemic musical selection, this cue has a more anticipatory flavor.

We composers often have to get creative in renaming cues for the listening public. Technically this piece is called “Menu Music Cue #2”. This is useful to the developers, who need to organize their game’s audio assets, but doesn’t quite inspire that sense of far-reaching wonderment we associate with the Star Trek franchise.

Film often presents a similar challenge; almost every cue starts out with a name like “Travis Shoots The Guy On The Motorcycle”. It’s up to the composer or album producer to add a little poetry to the soundtrack titles, while at the same time letting fans have a clue what the music originally accompanied. I might therefore rename the cue “High-Speed Pursuit”, but not “Threnody On The Horrors of Violence in D Minor”.

Enough digression! Enjoy the music of… space.

(Click on the play button to stream, or the cue title to download.)

	Stardock Refuel

This week’s music selection is the introductory theme from Star Trek Conquest, a game for the Nintendo Wii and Playstation 2. While I’m not a hardcore Trekkie, I’ve always been a big fan of the original-cast movies (particularly Star Trek II, which I regard as one of the best sci-fi movies ever) and the inspiring adventurous spirit of their scores.

My challenge here was to write something that fit in with a the existing Trek musical tradition, but also stood on its own legs as original music. I had hoped to drop in a nod to Alexander Courage’s classic theme, but alas, legal complexities prevented it. That aside, this score was a real treat to write.

(Click on the play button to stream, or the cue title to download.)

	Star Trek Conquest

Continuing the theme of gentle/sentimental music for the holiday season, here’s a tender cue that’s always been one of my personal favorites. (I realize that I say that about most of the music I write, but this one is a favorite even given the inflated attachment a composer feels for his or her own work.) Next week we’ll have something a bit more ardenalized.

(Click on the play button to stream, or the cue title to download.)

	You Can’t Go Back

Here’s something nostalgic and warm for the holiday season. This is one of my favorites from my score for Against Time – likely because it accompanies my favorite scene in the film. (I won’t give away the plot point, but let’s just say that I’m a sucker for time-travel father-and-son reunions.)

(Click on the play button to stream, or the cue title to download.)

	The Yard Sale

Welcome (back) to MikeMusicRadio! The Cue of the Week feature has been on hiatus during the construction of the new website (and a two-week sojourn to Cyprus on my part), but now that various strata of dust have settled this musical blog is back in business.

This week’s selection is what I call a “little brother” cue –  where a recurring major melody from a score appears in a lighter or more modest form. This cue, from the political thriller The F-Zone, introduces the affirmative theme that is heard throughout the score – most prominently in another cue featured on this site called Flying From Arcadia. Here the theme has a more mischievous quality, as well as a darker bridge section underscoring the sneaking-around portions of the scene.

(Click on the play button to stream, or the cue title to download.)

	Good Guy Gears