The Orange Alabaster Mushroom - Space & Time - (Full Album)

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Kingston, ON, Canada

Elusive Canadian psych-garage-pop-cult mastermind Gregory Watson falls into the category of those who have definitely had "too much to dream last night". He has allowed his especially analogue recordings as The Orange Alabaster Mushroom to be re-combined in the digital realm. A collection of eccentric 60s pop-alchemy and exquisite psychedelic lunacy, mystical melodic songs and assorted hallucinations culled from nearly a decade of recording. The mind-expanding sounds of dirigible guitars, overdriven organs, helium-pitch vocals and a Ringo drum fill falling down the stairs… The OAM is influenced by Sid Barrett's Pink Floyd, Donovan, The Rain Parade, Electric Prunes, Strawberry Alarm Clock, Dukes Of Stratosphere, The Soft Boys, 13th Floor Elevators, and Love, and what we imagine are loads of oddball 60s and 70s psychedelic obscurities. Fans of the psych-pop-mod-freakbeat sounds of the incredible 'Nuggets' Boxsets will find plenty to drool over, The Orange Alabaster Mushroom is indeed cut from the same paislied, technicolor cloth.

There are thousands of them out there. The people who toil away the hours by setting up mics in the hallway, bouncing track after track of sound on their four-tracks, ensuring that independent music can never die. On one hand, it's very easy to romanticize this kind of thing: musicians who do their work with no guarantee of ever being heard are sort of like monks, practicing their arts far away from civilization, completely at odds with what the material world would have them accomplish. How noble, to stick so closely to their ideals, that they would work so hard for no apparent reward other than hearing the sounds in their heads played back. I completely understand this. I'm one of many in this group.

On the other hand, theoretically, anyone can do this. Go pick up a recorder, and sing and play and bounce to your heart's content. As Milhouse said, "Fun is fun," but some of us have to listen to the stuff, too. It would be nice if everyone who was taping themselves made good music, but often (and I can personally attest to this), the music is like an inside joke only understood by the teller, and perhaps a few of his best friends.

Of course, sometimes people are forced into this method due to circumstances. In other words, if you don't have the cash or label support to record in a big, fancy studio, how else to make music but by recording at your house or garage? In a perfect world, the Music God would automatically give the most visionary musicians record contracts, but as it is, the kids will have to make do with what they have. I imagine Canada's Greg Watson is one of these types, masterfully producing his own stuff because nobody else will.

Watson's virtual one-man show, the Orange Alabaster Mushroom, plays amazingly well-crafted psychedelic pop, generally from the British angle. He started recording in 1991 under this moniker after working with a band called the 14th Wray. His first music was actually issued under their name, despite being almost entirely written and recorded by Watson. He did eventually end up recording in a proper studio in the late 90s, though the results retained his DIY aesthetic and only emphasized how spot-on his psych arrangements were.

As for the music, I'd say the Dukes of Stratosphear have nothing on this guy. I don't generally go out of my way to listen to anything that resembles a genre exercise, but the Orange Alabaster Mushroom is so amazingly precise in its depiction of '66-'67 era British psychedelia I'm drawn into the stuff by its sheer persistence. And to top it off, these are very good tunes-- what's the value in copying anything verbatim? Watson's music would sit well on a shelf next to Nuggets, and that's the best compliment I can give this release.

Space & Time: A Compendium of the Orange Alabaster Mushroom is a compilation of material released from 1991 through 1998. Watson recorded most of it on four-track, but a few tracks, as mentioned earlier were done on eight-track in a studio. "Your Face Is in My Mind" is actually one of the few American-flavored tracks, recalling bands like the Seeds or ? and the Mysterions with raging Farfisa organ and raucous garage-grunge guitar. The opening organ exposition, which actually reminds me of Iron Butterfly more than anyone else, is alone worth the price of admission.

Artists

Greg "Grog" Watson (vocals, guitar, organ)
Gord Mylks (guitar, vocals),
Mark "Fuzzy" Fraser (drums),
Ryan Bol (organ, vocals, guitar),
Andy Shurvell (bass)

Track Listing

01.Your Face Is In My Mind
02.(We Are) The Orange Alabaster Mushroom
03.Tree Pie
04.Crazy Murray
05.Another Place
06.Rainbow Man
07.Ethel Tripped A Mean Gloss
08.Valerie Vanillaroma
09.Space & Time
10.The Slug
11.Sunny Day
12.Aim the Vimana Toward the Dorian Sector

Bonus Tracks:
13.Mister Day
14.Gone
15.Sydney's Electric Headcheese Sundial