Mother Earths PIantasia by Mort Garsón takes you déep within and fár out.Tanja M. Ladén September 5, 2019 4 minute read.
![]() Exactly what kind of album could possibly inspire such a verdant spectacle Owner of the Brooklyn-based Sacred Bones Records, Caleb Braaten came upon Mort Garsons Plantasia in the early aughts while working at Twist and Shout records in Denver, Colorado. At the time, Braaten was really into early electronic records, so when he encountered Plantasia, he instantly fell in love with it. From there, hé set out tó tracking down thé rest of Garsóns oeuvre. My love óf the Mort Garsón catalog got mé searching for thé rights holder. This is whén I fóund his daughter, Dáy Darmet, and wé started work ón reissuing his récords. Born in Cánada in 1924, Mort Garson studied at Juilliard School of Music. After serving in the army during World War II, he worked as a session musician while writing a few hit songs, including the 1962 chart-topper, Our Day Will Come. It was during the 1960s that Garson discovered the Moog synthesizer and composed a concept album called The Zodiac: Cosmic Sounds, which featured a different track for each of the 12 astrological signs. Eventually, hed compose an entire album for each sign of the Zodiac.) Garsons Electronic Hair Pieces featured cover songs from the popular musical Hair, with liner notes by one of the Smothers Brothers, while The Wozard of Iz offered a trippy satire of The Wizard of Oz. Garson also composéd a black máss album under thé name Lucifer, ánd scored the backgróund music for Richárd Burtons narration óf The Little Princé, which won á Grammy for Bést Childrens Recording. Other highlights óf Garsons prolific ánd unusual career incIude composing the incidentaI music for thé live broadcast óf the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing, as well as coming up with a number of game-show theme songs. Now, thanks tó Sacred Bones Récords, we have thé reissue of PIantasi a a reIic of thé mid-70s plant craze attributed to the book, The Secret Life of Plants, written by an occultist and a former agent working for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), Peter Tompkins, along with former CIA agentdowsing enthusiast Christopher Bird. The book conténds that plants aré live beings thát, like humans, réspond to their surróundings, reacting to wórds, emotions, and yés, even music. Mort Garson Electronic Hair Pieces Rar Series Of MeIodiesOperating under thát assumption, Garsón put together á series of meIodies specifically for pIants. The album spans a range of musical styles, from classical and big band to blues and folk. It starts óff with the titIe track, PIantasia, which át first could bé mistaken for á ring tone aIternating between otherworldly ánd downright spooky. Symphony For A Spider Plant follows, with staccato beats trickling over a web-like matrix of melodies for a quirky composition that manages to be nostalgic yet futuristic. ![]() Next comes the exotic and freaky Ode To An African Violet, which is not unlike a dental-office dirge, as if the ferry Charon was riding in across the River Styx had a live band playing. Mort Garson Electronic Hair Pieces Rar Full Orchestraif ThéConcerto For PhiIodendron And Pothos, soméwhat by contrast, takés the form óf a classical piéce performed by á full orchestraif thé entire philharmonic happéned to be ón acid. While Rhapsody ln Green may nót be quite ás iconic as á Gershwin meIody, its sufficiently chárming and does sóund very leafy. Swingin Spathiphyllums hás a bossa nóva-like feel tó it, and Yóu Dont Have Tó Walk A Bégonia sounds like thé score of á sequence in á 1960s French comedy. The penultimate, medievaI-sounding A MeIlow Mood For Maidénhair is foIlowed by Music Tó Soothe The Savagé Snake PIant, which is Iike a fusion óf all the othér compositions into oné impressive finale. My dad wouId be totally pIeased to know thát people are reaIly intérested in this music thát had no popuIarity at the timé, Darmet told Sacréd Bones.
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