Orange Alabaster Mushroom

Living on the Kingston-Ottawa axis, Canada's own Gregory Watson is a psychedelic-era revivalist of the first order. On Space and Time: A Compendium Of The Orange Alabaster Mushroom we find almost all of his recorded output since 1991. Except for three tracks, all of this material has been previously released on compilations, singles and most recently on the vinyl LP of the same name put out last year by UK's Earworm label. To save all that record hunting, Hidden Agenda brings it all to you with this complete CD collection. Watson revels in '60 garage psychedelia and all the signifiers are here: great swirling organ riffs, backwards guitar solos, sitar buzz and vocals that range from gruff garage punk to munchkin-like sing-songs. Reference points range from '60s originators like Syd Barrett and Donovan to not so recent revivalists like XTC as Dukes Of The Stratosphear and Fegmania!-era Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians. As you can guess by Watson's recording moniker, he's about as lyrically surreal as it gets, but most importantly, the OAM's melodies are as hook-laden as they are hallucinogenic. The recordings and instrumentation are so authentically old school that it's impossible to date some of this material. Being a solo artist in the true sense, recording all the instruments himself, the OAM has not been a club act until about one year ago when Watson put together a live band. One can only hope that Watson's new found band-mates inspire new recordings in the not so distant future.