Five Tons Of Flax is the first release from Mechanical Dragon, a newly formed sublabel of Sonic Dragon chartered to focus on psychedelic techtrance. Although techtrance dominated psytrance shortly after the turn of the millennium, the rise of the progressive and full-on movements led to a wholesale abandonment of the style. While many artists continue to explore the murky borderlands between techno in trance in the modern day, very few have continued to explore the devastating cybernetic aesthetic pioneered by artists like The Delta, Midi Miliz, Authentik, PPS Project, and even (for a time) Wizzy Noise. Compiled by Simon, Five Tons Of Flax resurrects the post-millennial techtrance style remembered from the dance floors of yesterday.

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After signing with Blue Room Released in 1996, Koxbox released several singles with the influential British label. During their time with Blue Room, the group consisted of Frank E, Peter Candy (who left in 1998), and Ian Ion. A rough version of Too Pure was slated to appear as part of the Live At Burning Man 1996 album, but that project was cancelled for reasons unknown. Half a year before Dragon Tales, Too Pure was released as a single alongside remixes from two of the most influential names in Goa trance.

Too Pure is the definition of intelligent trance. No question about it: this is one of the finest of the mid-nineties Goa trance hits. Over the course of ten minutes Too Pure mutates and evolves in surprising ways, never ceasing to impress. Pulsing with the cosmic heartbeat of the universe, this vibrantly colourful production can seem to touch on the innumerable mysteries of consciousness. This is music to become lost inside. Too Pure is unfailingly brilliant!

The Infinity Project (Graham Wood and Raja Ram) put their own spin on Too Pure, stripping it down to the bare essentials and charting a course into darker waters. Rhythms shudder and convulse as wave after wave of twisted sound particles flash by like so many jewelled insects. The resulting odyssey carries overtones of Phosphoressence and Mindboggler, two other tracks produced by T.I.P. around the same time, but the Koxbox flavour still shines through.

Paul Jackson’s remix as Genetic was not released on the vinyl version of the single. Pitching the tempo way down, Jackson transforms the blinding psychedelic complexity of the original into something much more hypnotic—a kind of mystic lullaby.

The awe-inspiring quality of Too Pure ensures that it will forever be considered a classic. While nothing could possibly have improved on the original, Genetic and T.I.P. provide credible interpretations worth hearing. As with many Blue Room releases, Too Pure is now considered a collector’s item. Good luck tracking this one down!