Plantasia

Mother Earth’s Plantasia is a cult electronic album by Canadian composer, arranger, and pioneer of electronic music Mort Garson (1924–2008). Upon its release in 1976, the album had very limited distribution – it could only be obtained with the purchase of a houseplant at a store called Mother Earth on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, or with the purchase of a Simmons mattress at a Sears store. Although Plantasia did not gain wider popularity at the time of its release, it is today regarded as a cult classic and one of the earliest electronic albums created entirely using the Moog synthesizer. In 2019, the album was reissued by the American independent label Sacred Bones Records.

Kristína Smetanová and Haimoni Balgavá transcribed the entire album into a score for four performers on synthesizers. In addition to Kristína and Haimoni, the other members of the project are Peter Kunzo and Martin Štefánik. “As someone living in the noise of the city, with the constant presence of music, I often escape into nature, which provides me with shelter and inspiration. Plantasia is music for plants. I am glad to be able to contribute to such a beautiful idea and to engage with the essence of creation, and perhaps give something back,” said Kristína Smetanová about the project. According to its concept, Plantasia is intended to have a positive effect on plants, and in this spirit the quartet expanded the original material with new compositions.