The multifaceted duo of A. Watson and Richard Foe make up Good Block. As a duo, they’ve put on parties featuring some very tasty guests over the years (just hosting ddwy late last year for one) and before that booking as diverse a bunch as you can get, with the likes of Jan Schulte, Nick the Record, Selvagem and Jonny Rock all featuring. On top of that, they incorporate a superbly unique and distinctive visual style that accompanies all their activity. Then the final piece of the puzzle is their ever expanding killer edits and productions. Chuck it all together, and they begin to resemble a self contained creative industry in their own right.

In terms of releases, after recent appearances on the All Trades Comp and Jura Soundsystem Remix Special, amongst others, they are now back with a debut long player. It’s a collection of their own productions, and pulls together various pieces they’ve created over the last seven years. The spacey organ fanfare of ‘Glow Green’ drops first, tripping with a casually menacing throb. ‘Lema’ takes a more astral/tropical direction, with sharp stabs of guitar and tribal drums. GB don’t limit themselves in the locations of inspiration and ‘Scatter Dub’ fires out the digi and echo in ample measures for a solid beatdown affair. ‘Golden Pulse’ flips direction again, and channels more Eastern sounds that wind their way in between chugging elasticated bass lines that make for a happy pairing with the lighter piano bounce of ‘Coda’.

BPMs steadily notch in the upward direction as the album progresses, and ‘23 Scatter’ drops a filtered siren on the snapping drums as the tempo rises. Next up, ‘Datura’ is a relentlessly acidic break, with fluctuating synth shapes placed on top, a more than ample main course for the dance. ‘Clear Water’ densely packs the beats and angular electronics for a compact robolectric workout. Finally easing back for the final two tracks, the sliding bass sound of ‘Sandii’ evolves into a chilled breakdown before coming back to round out the track perfectly. Last up, ‘Rain’ strips things back to a simple keyboard line and drum pattern interspersed with distant voices a perfect mix of the organic and atmospheric to close out.

‘Window’ shines a welcome retrospective light on the considerable efforts of the Good Block gents. Expertly produced in every way, taking their time with a deliberate approach that more than satisfies on every listen.

Window is released on 20 March and will be available via the Good Block Bandcamp page plus the usual physical retailers.