The 1980 Listening Post - Melodic Energy Commission - Migration of the Snails

Reviewed by Chris Roberts Released: 1980 Melodic Energy Commission Migration Of The Snails Genre: Space Rock Rating: 3.9999 out of 5 Highlights: Doorway Into Summer I support the Commission’s limited authority with regard to snail migrations but I’m not ready to wholeheartedly endorse these Canadians as it pertains to their “melodic energy.” You might guess from the album title this is not club music. Per the MEC’s website, this album is an “adventure into the explorative otherworlds of electronic and ancient acoustic musico-sonic territory.” In other words, the calendar may say 1980 but the MEC still party like it’s 1971. Migration of the Snails is experimental prog laced with old school psychedelia, much like early Tangerine Dream, Italian horror soundtracks, Miles’ Bitches Brew or Nucleus’ jazz fusion. Del Delmar from Hawkwind even contributes to a few tracks. But it’s also unique. Mixed into the haywire guitars are analog synths, chamber music sounds, funky grooves and occasional environmental effects, recalling works from more contemporary sources, like the Kronos Quartet, Penguin Café Orchestra and The Latin Playboys. Thematically, you could program Migration of Snails alongside Stevie Wonder’s Secret Life of Plants and Inoyamaland’s Music for Slime Molds for a whole afternoon of Moisty Mountain Hop. I love all that stuff listed above, and I recommend this album for anyone who’s like-minded. Or if you just want to trip balls on weird sounds for a half hour, this album is more fun and accessible than say, Cabaret Voltaire. But I’m not sure its particularly meaningful. Migration of the Snails is more like a bunch of ideas and partial tracks rather than a fully-baked concept. Only two cuts (the title track and the lovely closer, “Doorway Into Summer”) are over six minutes in length. The rest are under three minutes—not enough time for all the different sounds to build let alone coalesce into anything that got under my skin. For example, the percussion, keyboards and whatever makes that “firecracker” sound on “Periwinkle Street” create some atmosphere, possibly a sketch, but doesn’t seem to have a point. I want “Periwinkle Street” to be about 12 minutes longer. I want every track to be about 12 minutes longer.