‘It’s Good To Be A Tree’ is a new organic house / downtempo label that caught our attention with its latest release. It’s an impressive mixed artist EP featuring track by Zoe Reijue, Yassen, Betelgeize, Waxwood, Needze, Last Gentleman on Playa, elzy padme, Isnomad and Sergey Pushkin.
In recent times it seems that organic house / downtempo has become one of those hype genres that helps introduce a bunch of new innovation to the electronic music scene. Its popularity has been helped by events such as Burning Man, where the sound seems to have first taken root on the sandy desert dance floors.
The low-slung organic house / downtempo grooves are well suited to dancing under the heat of an energy draining sun, as it encourages slow and relaxed movements rather than the frantic jumping around associated with something like techno. So, it makes sense to be popular at Burning Man and other locations that get hot weather, but of course it’s equally popular in colder countries, where its association with hot weather can help create a tropical feeling of warmth even on the coldest days.
After the initial innovation of a new sub-genre, comes the copy cats whose cooky cutter replications can start to make things feel a little stale, but releases like this new one on It’s Good To Be A Tree help keep things fresh.
The nine tracks on it’s Good To Be A Tree’s new release have got some great variation while also epitomising the imaginative elements of the organic house / downtempo genre. Each of the cuts transports the listener to a different location of prompt, psychedelic daydreams and otherworldly trails of thought.
Tracks like Betelgeize’s “Snake is Near” make the listener feel like they are a leaf floating in the breeze, while others such as Needze’s “rEia” are introverted and intensely psychedelic. Waxwood’s “Ushba” has also got a really distinctive groove and unusual mix of sounds, while others such as Last Gentleman on Playa’s “Metarenessanse” have a more common style, which helps ground the release with some great contrast.