Mother Earth's Plantasia
1976 studio album by Mort Garson
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Mother Earth's Plantasia is an electronic album by Mort Garson released in 1976.
| Mother Earth's Plantasia | |
|---|---|
| |
| Studio album by | |
| Released | 1976 |
| Studio | Patchcord Productions, Hollywood, California[1] |
| Genre | Space age pop |
| Length | 30:55 |
| Label | Homewood Records, Sacred Bones |
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 78/100[2] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [3] |
| Pitchfork | 7.2/10[4] |
| The Quietus | [5] |
Background
The "Mother Earth" in the album's title refers to Lynn and Joel Rapp, a couple of fern correspondents who had authored plant care books and were friends of composer Mort Garson.[6] The music on this album was composed specifically for plants to listen to.[7] Garson was inspired by his wife, who grew many plants in their home.[8] Garson used a Moog synthesizer to compose the album, the first album from the West Coast of the United States to be composed entirely on the Moog synthesizer.[8]
The album had a very limited distribution upon release, only being available to people who bought a houseplant from a store called Mother Earth on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles or those who purchased a Simmons mattress from a Sears outlet, both of which came with the record.[7] As a result, the album failed to attain widespread popularity around the time of its release. However, it has since gained a cult following as an early work of electronic music.[9]
Legacy
The album also gained popularity on YouTube, with the full album (uploaded without permission) gaining millions of views and thousands of comments spread over multiple different bootleg uploads.[10]
A cover of "Plantasia" was produced by Griffin McElroy for use in a 2017 episode of The Adventure Zone.[11]
In March 2019, Sacred Bones Records announced that they were officially reissuing Mother Earth's Plantasia.[9] The reissue is available on music streaming services and was released on vinyl, CD and cassette on June 21, 2019. The former included a card for a digital download of the album, pressed with wildflowers that could be planted and grown, as well as a booklet filled with poems and anecdotes about the Mother Earth shop.[7] Angie Martoccio, writing for Rolling Stone in 2019, described Mother Earth's Plantasia as Garson's magnum opus.[12] Stephen M. Deusner, writing for Pitchfork, described it as perhaps Garson's "most beloved album, at least among crate-diggers and record collectors."[4]
For the 2023 tax season, Intuit used the opening track "Plantasia" on a TurboTax advertisement.[13]
In France from 2023, supermarket chain giant Intermarche used the same track in a long-running TV advert for their '10 per cent' sales campaign.
The album was shortlisted for the Polaris Heritage Prize at the 2025 Polaris Music Prize.[14]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Plantasia" | 3:21 |
| 2. | "Symphony for a Spider Plant" | 2:41 |
| 3. | "Baby's Tears Blues" | 3:03 |
| 4. | "Ode to an African Violet" | 4:03 |
| 5. | "Concerto for Philodendron & Pothos" | 3:09 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 6. | "Rhapsody in Green" | 3:28 |
| 7. | "Swingin' Spathiphyllums" | 2:59 |
| 8. | "You Don't Have to Walk a Begonia" | 2:31 |
| 9. | "A Mellow Mood for Maidenhair" | 2:17 |
| 10. | "Music to Soothe the Savage Snake Plant" | 3:23 |
Personnel
- Mort Garson – score, electronics
- Eugene L. Hamblin III – electronic engineering
- Sam Nicholson – art direction
- Marvin Rubin – illustrations
Charts
| Chart (2019) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Independent Albums (Billboard)[15] | 6 |
| US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard)[16] | 8 |