Mort Garson: Plantasia - Vinyl Friday #70
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- Опубликовано: 6 июл 2024
- Well...this is different.
It's not a classic album, nor was it wildly popular upon its release. It's quirky, unconventional, and extremely niche...and I love every minute of it.
For this, the 70th episode of Vinyl Friday, we're giving some love and due attention to a real oddball of an album, Mort Garson's Plantasia. I came across it during its RUclips renaissance nearly ten years ago, and I was instantly hooked - perhaps it'll do the same for you. And hey, if it's not your cup of tea, you can always play it to your houseplants.
In this episode: Moogs, moon landings, and a whole lotta greenery!
For those of you with a burning desire to generally support what I do, I'm here to help you along in that journey: www.buymeacoffee.com/fathommu... (but no pressure, friends☺️)
Happy Friday, folks!
0:00 Hello!
1:19 Mort Garson - what a guy!
3:21 Plantasia - what an album!
6:16 A sudden pivot into orchestral music
9:30 A one-instrument orchestra
11:10 Plantasia is classical music?!
16:10 Imagining an acoustic Plantasia
17:39 Goodbye!
Want to look at pictures of what I'm working on? / fathommusicnz
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Fathom albums "The World to Breathe" and "Modern Reflections, Vol. 1" are also available on all streaming platforms. Tweed's album "High Brow Blues" is also ALSO available on all streaming platforms!
Thanks for your sharing your attention with me. :)
#electronicmusic #plantasia
A show of hands, please. Are you a card-carrying member of the Secret Plantasia Appreciation Society?
i refuse to join any club that would have me as a member
groucho marx
(i did want to join the maxwell silver hammer appreciation society only to be told that there was no such thing.)
@@alanclayton9277 - I have a "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" t-shirt which came with my subscription to the MSHAS. You also get a miniature silver hammer and anvil with a 5 year subscription.
I am not, I have never heard of it before, but it seems right up my street! I shall have to see if I can get a copy in to my record shop.
By the way, are you familiar with Gershon Kingsley's Music to Moog By from 1968? It has a similar vibe, but in a much more 1960s way. And in answer to the question, Does it Beatles? Yes. It Beatles hard.
Also, I really loved your orchestral rearrangement of the piece at the end… What software did you use? It sounded great
I am! I have a tote bag and newest CD. Since the 2019 reissue where they used a needle drop they found the completely unmarked master tapes in a box somewhere and have used them for the first time since the original release. The CD sounds amazing, I recommend! This is my first time checking out the channel but I love it and have added lots of the backlog to my watch later!
Fantastic, welcome!
My Fittonia and i love Plantasia!
Omg, this was recommended to me and I LOVE THIS ALBUM!! it's so so good and such a weird niche history behind it's distribution and production it's so interesting, can't believe i stumbled across your video!
I'm so glad you did! I figured this wouldn't be the biggest Vinyl Friday episode, but that the people who were into the album might appreciate it. Thanks for watching!
i heard this album about 5 years ago and was thrilled with it and put it away. i DIDN'T know the part about him working on classic glen campbell song. thanks.
I'm a big Mort Garson fan. Plantasia is great, and so are his "dark" albums like Ataraxia and Black Mass/Lucifer. 🪴
Moog synthesizer makes me think The Moody Blues .. Mort Garson is great for sure tho
I've never heard of this album but I will give it a chance.
another weird chapter in plantasia history: the title track blew up after being used in a turbotax commercial a couple years back!
Oh that's wiiiiild.
I wonder if Al Cooper borrowed or lifted right from some of the classical moments you describe. If you listen to I Can't Quit Her by Blood Sweat and Tears at around 2:20 it's almost exactly what you share at 14:40. Also, what you sing of the bottom part at 14:15 immediately made me think of the melody of the chorus on Just One Smile from Blood Sweat and Tears, off of the same album, 'Child is Father to the Man'. That album (one of my favorites) came out in 1968. It is plausible that Al heard Plantasia and lifted some moments to compose around...
Bonus 'Does it Beatle?': The young fellow in the black-and-white clip demonstrating the Moog synthesiser is Mike Vickers of Manfred Mann - not only was he replaced in Manfred Mann by peripheral Beatle Klaus Voormann, but he also conducted the orchestra for the live broadcast of All You Need Is Love while George Martin was engaged in the studio.
a very well known classical piece that deliberately showcases the sections of the orchestra is benjamin britten's young persons guide to the orchestra. the contrapuntal writing in the final moments is a thrill ride.
i gave this a listen today, y'know my homework, and it does celebrate that distinctive sound very well. there must be a reason that genre seems to have devalued quickly though. you have to come up with not just sounds but thematic ideas and attractive though the sounds on plantasia are the tunes are a little bit jazzy little bit classical but not that memorable? tomita's snowflakes are dancing solved the compositional aspect by just arranging debussy. melodies like reverie or girl with the flaxen hair, pretty amazing material.
my favourite cult albums would have to include terry riley's a rainbow in curved air, though i think it's electronic sounds but not a synthesiser.
this episode was quite an enjoyable switch for vinyl friday. see what i did there. na well.
I love both Snowflakes and Rainbow in Curved Air. Both excellent albums to point out!
I was playing this new video of yours, listening with great interest to everything you were saying... when around the 10:25 mark - the high pitched melody came on... and suddenly my Peace Lily jumped out of its pot and ran out of the room. I found that pretty amusing, and laughed for a few seconds, but then continued on with the episode.
I couldn't find any 'Switched On Bach" either - but I did find a couple related videos... for anyone interested.
1. ruclips.net/video/5WGhsEJ7dwA/видео.html
2. ruclips.net/video/73iYaoXBzVY/видео.html
3. ruclips.net/video/8rPj30Ts_3c/видео.html
4. ruclips.net/video/U8pCvqILLvM/видео.html
"contrapuntal" melodies. And here I thought "contrapuntal" had to do with a U.S. football coach having a tendency to go for it on 4th down.
My favorite part of this video is right near the end where you re-envision the beginning of the song as a piece performed with orchestral instruments (strings, flute, cello, French horn). That entire segment (from 16:10 to 17:27) was put together and worded so beautifully. And when you added in the B part at 17:13... wow! Turns out - you ARE an orchestral arranger.
Btw... while that part was playing - I saw my plant return to the room and jump back into its pot.
Early on in the video - I was pretty much agreeing with Mort Garson's daughter's opinion ("This just didn't do it for me."); but after watching the full video... I have been moved to a place of appreciation.
No matter the subject... you are always so engaging, fun and interesting. Thanks Nancy.
I laughed out loud. I'm glad your peace lily got so much out of this episode!