The unique album made for plants
In 1976, Moog pioneer and botanical composer Mort Garson released Mother Earth’s Plantasia with the tagline, “warm earth music for plants… and the people who love them”.
The record had an unusually limited release, not only in pressing numbers but also because it was only available to people who purchased a plant from Los Angeles’ Mother Earth or a mattress from Sears. Expectedly, this method of release obtained little success for Garson at the time of release, but it did stay true to the central concept: Plantasia was an album made for plants.
Perhaps unexpectedly, the niche record has since become part of the cult canon of music lovers. Between vinyl collectors digging through record stores, plant obsessives, and internet music communities, Plantasia found a new life in the 2010s. A revived interest in synth music and the Moog, in particular, has garnered the album a cult following like no other, leading the record to be repressed over 40 years after its release.
Indie label Sacred Bones put the record out again in 2019 across streaming and physical formats. The vinyl edition was accompanied by a booklet detailing the correct way to care for each of your plants, as well as a download card embedded with wildflower seeds.
Garson’s early work was a far cry from the obscure concept of Plantasia. During the 1950s and 1960s, he found success as a writer and composer, working alongside the likes of Cliff Richard and Doris Day. But his musical endeavours shifted after he encountered electronic pioneer and synth creator Robert Arthur Moog in 1967.
The accompanying booklet contains an introduction written by Andy Beta, who quotes Garson’s daughter Day Darmet as stating, “When my dad found the synthesiser, he realised he didn’t want to do pop music anymore.”
Pivoting from composing music for people to composing music for plants, Plantasia certainly marked a deviation from the popular. Bright and bold, the soothing project moved away from the commercial and into the experimental. The entirely instrumental record provides half an hour of bright, glittering synth soundscapes sure to encourage the growth of plants and people alike. A warm and nourishing collection of songs, it toes the line between electronic and earthy, forming the perfect summer album.
With its endearing concept, early use of the Moog, and odd background story, Plantasia’s rediscovery was primed for cult success. In the last few years, the record has been adopted from its humble, sweet beginnings into adoring online music circles.
Darmet reflected on the album’s renewed success, musing, “My dad would be totally pleased to know that people are really interested in this music that had no popularity at the time.”
She continued, “He would be fascinated by the fact that people are finally understanding and appreciating this part of his musical career that he got no admiration for back then.”
Garson might have only intended for the warm, ambient tones of Plantasia to aid botanical growth for the houseplant owners of Los Angeles, but the ongoing legacy of the record has nurtured just as many human music lovers as it has plants.
Listen to Mort Garson’s Mother Earth’s Plantasia, the album made for plants, below.
