The Orange Alabaster Mushroom (psych rock, psych pop / Canada)

The Orange Alabaster Mushroom is a one-man band project by Ottawa, Ontario-based singer/songwriter Greg Watson. While a member of the Fiends (not the Los Angeles punk group, but a group of Ottawa-based garage rockers), Watson began recording his own, more psychedelically influenced solo material in early 1991. Although Watson continued his home recordings for a number of years and even placed a few on obscure psych compilations, the first Orange Alabaster Mushroom release was a four-track EP, The Psychedelic Bedroom, in 1996. That EP, which included the theme song/statement of intent "We Are the Orange Alabaster Mushroom," wasn't followed up for nearly three years, until the single "The Slug," backed with "Ethel Tripped a Mean Gloss," appeared in 1999. The limited-edition LP compilation Space and Time: A Compendium of the Orange Alabaster Mushroom was released by Earworm Records in 2000. Hidden Agenda reissued Space and Time in October 2001 with three new previously unreleased tracks.

This one-man band reproductions of classic circa-1967 psych-pop are so dead-on perfect in every detail that one could play this collection of 1991-1998 recordings for any fan of Nuggets-era obscurities and they’d think it was authentic circa 1967 psych-pop. Farfisa organ, gloriously fuzzy guitars, and rattlesnake percussion (plus occasionally the obligatory sitar and trippy backwards tapes) support Watson’s deliciously whiny vocals, but this is no mere period recreation. Unlike a lot of contemporary artists who try to work in this style, Watson doesn’t forget what made the best psych-pop singles work so well: strong melodies and immediate hooks. Songs like the “Itchykoo Park”-like music hall amble “Sunny Day” and the statement of intent “We Are the Orange Alabaster Mushroom” capture the listener through their unabashed catchiness. Leaning more toward the fanciful side of British psychedelia than the comparatively drab San Francisco style (much more Syd Barrett than Grace Slick), this is an utterly charming collection likely to delight any psych-pop fan.


Ethel Tripped a Mean Gloss:

Albums: 

Space And Time: A Compendium of the Orange Alabaster Mushroom (2002)