Day 206: Mort Garson – Mother Earth’s Plantasia
It’s been a long time since I wrote about anything other than music. There’s not really any reason why, I just haven’t been in the mood or I’ve been too busy having a nice time. But today I’m starting a new project, so I need writing music, something mellow without any lyrics. I chose Mort Garson’s neat-sounding project, Mother Earth’s Plantasia.
The interesting thing about this album is that it’s not primarily meant for humans, it’s meant for plants – or as the liner notes say, it’s "warm earth music for plants and the people who love them." It was made by the Canadian composer, arranger, songwriter and Moog synth wizard, Mort Garson. It had a very limited run when it was released in 1976, as it was only available as a gift with purchase if you bought a houseplant from a store called Mother Earth on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, or if you bought a Simmons mattress from a Sears outlet.
Eventually, though, the album ended up becoming a bit of a cult classic after it started gaining views on YouTube. Mort, unfortunately, wasn’t alive to see the album become a hit. His daughter and his wife both thought it was far from his finest work and his daughter was shocked to hear that Plantasia was making the rounds online, but for some reason, this was the one that resonated with people. His daughter said “It doesn’t move me, but it moved my dad. So whatever moved him must be moving other people.”
I was sold pretty much from the first second I heard Plantasia, this thing got me immediately. The thinking behind the album must be finding a way to illustrate warmth and create a happy environment to something that doesn’t understand our usual mediums of words or physical expressions and instead just do it through electronic music, it’s so unique and the task gets carried out immensely well. It’s bouncy and fun and reminds you of why it’s nice to be alive. I think if I listened to this in a hammock in the sunshine, it would cure about 90% of my problems.
I do actually find myself feeling pretty moved by it. Some people might think the concept is hokey new-age woo-woo, but I think there’s something amazing about it, there’s a very unique warmth to the whole concept of creating a nice environment for plants through music. I think it’s the best of humanity, being so kind and good-natured that you think “maybe that Monstera on my windowsill could have a nicer time if I played it some tunes.”
Listening to this makes me feel like I’m a walking version of that emoji with the hearts around it, it’s like an auditory hug. I’m no plant but I could also probably grow by listening to this, too. I love the album, the concept and what it represents, it’s a 9.5/10. I’d bet money on Mort Garson having a 10 in his discography, probably somewhere within his occult music repertoire.
Also, here’s the coolest fact I’ve found out in the course of this project: Mort Garson made the music for a small film that was shown during coverage for the Apollo 11 landing being shown on TV. That is by far the coolest thing you could do a score for. His label sells a patch that says “MORT GARSON APOLLO 11, the first MOOG on the MOON” which I would have bought just now had it not been sold out. What a flex for this guy.