Inaccuracies of the Mind Machine

Album Review

Pay no attention to the hopelessly pretentious title, which sounds like the name of a Rush B-side. Inaccuracies of the Mind Machine has much more in common with the meditative (even at high volumes) post-rock of Mogwai and Boards of Canada's trippy bliss-outs. Although the 14-track album is divided into relatively concise chunks, with only the hypnotic closer, "Eyes Closed, Numbers Appear," breaking the seven-minute mark, the album is so well structured that it sounds basically like one multi-part suite rather than a collection of unrelated short compositions. This is not to say that Inaccuracies of the Mind Machine is samey or unvaried, however. Conceived and performed by Bay Area electronica-pop master Tommy Guerrero with ex-Swell members Monte Vallier and DJ Gadget, plus guest drummers including John Herndon from Tortoise, the album blends trippy dub textures (complete with occasional shards of Augustus Pablo-like melodica), '70s-style space rock, and heavy doses of Guerrero and Gadget's IDM-style beats into a unique and appealing sound that ignores genre restrictions. This trio probably won't ever be its members' primary musical outlet, but out of their varied musical backgrounds, Jet Black Crayon have created an album simultaneously true to their musical roots and unlike anything they've done previously.