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"Goodbye, Jean-Luc, I'm gonna miss you. You had such potential. But then again, all good things must come to an end."
- Q, Star Trek: TNG

Radio Active #33: Battlestar Galactica Season 2 Soundtrack, Uncle Bear Podcast

by Ken Newquist / July 11, 2006

Battlestar Galactica Season 2 Soundtrack The big news this week is about the new Nuketown web site and some of the content that's soon to grace its Web pages. Balancing out the self-congratulatory ramblings and pleads for comments is a review of the Battlestar Galactica Season 2 Soundtrack, including several tracks from the CD courtesy of LaLa Land Records. There's also some discussion of Uncle Bear's Gamer Podcast project.

Getting the Podcast

There are several ways to get the podcast:

Show Notes

  • Intro
    • "Colonial Anthem" from Battlestar Galactica Season 2 Soundtrack
  • Nuketown News
    • The New Nuketown
    • Luc Update
      • The baby is doing well -- he's loving the Superman Returns soundtrack, which almost always settles him down when he gets upset. Also, he smiled at me for the first time today, which was very, very cool.
  • Promo
  • Sites of Note
  • Promo
  • Music Review: Battlestar Galactica, Season 2 Soundtrack
    • 23 tracks lasting 1:18:38.
    • LaLa Land Records
    • Official Soundtrack Web Page
    • Buy it from Amazon.com
    • Shows the same musical diversity as the original soundtrack, though this time it reinforces and expands on existing themes in addition to adding wholly new tracks.
    • Reviewed Tracks:
      • "Pegasus": a beautiful, track in which you can perfectly imagine the Pegasus floating in space, the camera slowly drifting over her contours.
      • "Something Dark is Coming" (excerpt0: Dark and slightly discordant.
      • "Scar": Traditional BSG track, with lots of drums and a primal feel.
      • "Black Market": An intense, aggressive track not at all in keeping with the rest of the BSG mood … and all the more interesting for it.
    • All in all, a solid soundtrack, definitely worth buying for those who are into the series.
  • Outro
AttachmentSize
NuRA-2006-07-10.mp334.86 MB
Topic: 
Nuketown Radio Active

Comments

Great show, Ken!

I noticed lately that the Radio Active sound quality has taken a jump up. New mic or equipment? Your highs used to be pretty pegged, such that when listening in the car "S" sounds were almost piercing. (Flash to the concert soundcheck guy: "Sibilance, sibilance. Check 1, 2. Sibilance.")

Everything sounded great this week though (and I believe the last few weeks) - nice job on the polish.

As for the soundtrack, I was pleasantly surprised on several fronts. First, the reintroduction of the original BG theme in the Colonial Anthem! Great stuff. I've always loved the theme from the original series (although I disagree that it sounds like John Williams), and it was great to hear it back again!

My other surprise was how guitar-driven many of the tracks were. Electric guitar isn't typically the instrument du jour in a TV soundtrack, but being a player myself and a guitar fan in general, I really enjoyed the sweeping, haunting usage in this Season 2 soundtrack. Good stuff, and I plan on picking it up.

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http://ditlog.blogspot.com/
A busy gamer dad shares his thoughts on gaming, geek life, and other eclectic topics of the day.

Submitted by erilar on Thu, 07/13/2006 - 11:21am

Hmmm. I've changed two things in the last few episodes -- for one I'm no longer down sampling the MP3s; previously I'd reduced the quality to save on space, but the side effect was the sort of things you're reporting -- spikes, unevenness, etc. I decided to try and keep the podcasts shorter instead. The other change is that I've been setting a lower max level in Audacity (9 instead of 10) which helps with those occasional audio peaks when I'm talking, and should keep things on a more even level.

I need to start sampling the final podcast again to see how it sounds, but I'm glad to hear I'm making progress! What I really need to do is invest in some real audio equipment, like a better mic and a mixer, but the money's just not available yet (what with me needing that new 360 and all...) Maybe I need to do a fundraiser ... :)

And yeah, the soundtrack itself kicks ass. It's a great listen, and I whole-heartedly recommend it, both for background tunes at work, and for gaming at home.

Submitted by Ken Newquist on Thu, 07/13/2006 - 11:34am

I've been following Nuketown for quite a while now and have greatly enjoyed your shows. I really enjoyed the music review you did on this last show. I think I'm going to have to go out and get a hold of a copy of the Battle Star Galactica Season 2 soundtrack for myself, after hearing your reviews. Also on the note of Science Fiction and paying the writers, I have recently been enjoying both Escape Pod and 365 tomorrows with their podcast Voices of Tomorrow.

http://www.yazug.com/blog
A Random Thought about Nothing

Submitted by YaZug on Thu, 07/13/2006 - 8:35pm

I'm glad you liked that show -- I really enjoy doing the music review podcasts, and feedback like this (and Erilar's) really helps because a) I know people like it and b) when the labels read the review, they'll see the comments and know it was worth their while to let me play the songs. I'd say about 1/3 of the music I get in nowadays is podcastable, with LaLa Land Records being the most cooperative. (yep, they're helpful, so I give them another plug -- other companies take note!)

I've been listening to Escape Pod on and off, usually when I'm doing a lengthy series of home improvements (as I find the fiction breaks up all the talk shows quite well) but I hadn't checked out 365 Tomorrows -- I'll have to subscribe to that. Thanks for the tip!

Submitted by Ken Newquist on Fri, 07/14/2006 - 9:52am

Be sure to check out Mur Lafferty's "I Look Forward to Remembering You" featured in a recent Escape Pod - I really enjoyed that story.

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http://ditlog.blogspot.com/
A busy gamer dad shares his thoughts on gaming, geek life, and other eclectic topics of the day.

Submitted by erilar on Fri, 07/14/2006 - 9:53am