Old-school heads may remember the origins of the Dispatch crew circa-1996 as brothers Jason and Mark Goodings (aka Hidden Agenda) released a trilogy of ‘Dispatches’ on Metalheadz. Dispatch Recordings, the imprint, would follow years later as the first release (“Dispatch #4”) would mark the beginning of a new era that is still reverberating through the culture to this day. While Hidden Agenda passed the reigns on to current label boss and visionary Ant TC1, their original vision continues to drive the sound and ethos of the imprint that tends to veer towards the dark and deep side of the dancefloor with a breakbeat-driven sound centered on classic futuristic drum & bass atmospheres and tech-tinged vibrations.
Flash-forward to the present and the legendary imprint has not only reached their 100th release but is marking the occasion with a compilation album project that showcases producers from both the past and present of the label. While the release may feel bittersweet coming in the wake of Mark Goodings, one-half of the original Hidden Agenda duo, recently passing from throat cancer, the compilation serves as both a fitting tribute to his legacy as well as a celebration of just how far the culture he helped spawn has come.
Split into two parts, the Past Blueprint volume features hand-selected cuts from the back catalogue including classics from Artificial Intelligence, Marcus Intalex, Duo Infernale, Survival, Break, and Zero T. As expected, the Future Blueprint volume gathers up fresh originals and remixes from the likes of label stalwarts like DLR, Skeptical, Gerra, Stone & Cern, Quadrant & Iris, and Lockjaw. Of interest to future drum & bass historians is artists like Script and Ant TC1 that appear on both volumes, capturing the evolution of the sound and craft of both artist and genre.
To get your hands on this 32-track, mind-bending pair of compilations, be sure to hop over to the Dispatch shop and lock in your own slice of history past and present here.