[RvK] [2017] Round 2: Squad vs. Squad Battle Block 1

[DarkeSword]

Download the Music: Squad vs. Squad Block 1: Round 2
Because RvK has two different types of rounds (squad-vs-squad and boss battle), please make sure you read and follow the instructions.
This is a Squad vs. Squad Battle. You must use the poll to vote for the tracks you like better. If you’re able, please leave reviews of the tracks in this thread.

Voting ends Sunday, at 9PM EST.

• The most important thing to consider when voting is how well the remix incorporates and arranges both themes. Production and enjoyability should also be considered, but this is primarily an arrangement competition.
• Everyone is allowed (and encouraged) to vote, including competitors.
• You are required to make an actual decision for each choice, meaning, you cannot declare a draws or ties for different places. This will be counted as not voting and your vote will not be counted.
• Everyone must adhere to the Competitions Code of Conduct.

[Starphoenix]

El Polar Enker - Pretty nice Spanish flair to the track. Definitely a opposite of what comes to mind for me when thinking of Polar Knight, but you did a good job with a tough source. Song is a little static, and the ending is a little abrupt. 

Arctic Robot Dance Party - Blegh. This dude should have worked on his mix much more, and the intro is a little underwhelming/sounds off. He also took a lot of liberties with the Polar Knight source. 

King of the Kuiper Belt - Herbie Hancock's Chameleon says hello. Love what you did with this track. Everything comes together very cohesively, and that bassline is crunchy peanut butter goodness.

Pridemoor Cat - Really nice, clubby track. Leads sound a little weak at times and could create better separation, but overall still a really nice track. Good job from a fellow Robot member!

[MindWanderer]

Review time!

• El Polar Enker: This is kind of a textbook example of a static arrangement.  There are only two leads, the guitar and the piano, and their thin and artificial character makes them sound very similar to each other.  The percussion is a simple loop that's varied very little from beginning to end, and there's very little other accompaniment; the Enker section has some mid-range piano playing a simple loop, and that's about it aside from an extremely quiet bass.  As for source usage, it's a straightforward A-B-A pattern, which works but isn't very striking.
• Arctic Robot Dance Party: A good effort at integrating two sources that don't lend themselves to integration in any obvious way.  Some good ideas here, although vanilla synths and simple beats do bring it down somewhat.  Some of the transitions are a little awkward, and the ending is a little abrupt.
• King of the Kuiper Belt: I had a very hard time identifying the source usage.  On the second listen, I caught some suggestions of both themes, but they're really far afield.  Nice approach with the style, although there was an awful lot of the organ lead that could have been switched up a little.  Bass and highs were both a little light.
• Pridemoor Cat: Not bad at all!  A little slow and repetitive, but it's trance.  There's an odd effect in the first main section and again at the end where the lead is pushed back a little, which almost works, except that the mid-low arp is supposed to fill in the pauses in the Pluto theme, but isn't quite beefy enough to pull it off.  I was worried about a simple A-B-A arrangement here, but then you started doing the layered thing, and it worked really well!  It was kind of disappointing when that section ended, since it was easily the best part and there was a full minute left.  Solid approach overall though.
• Fellow Knight: Odd how this gradually grows less melancholy and more trancey as it goes, until the end when it reverses.  The lead is a little static, but it's a good arrangement.  Nice, if brief, layering of the sources.