AMG Review of Sworn Eyes

Richie Unterberger
All Music Guide

Jazz-oriented experimental music from the Chicago post-rock crowd, with HiM constant Doug Scharin aided by guitarist Jeff Parker (from Tortoise and Isotope 217) and other musicians associated with outfits such as Rex and Chicago Underground Duo. The drowsy but not quite narcotic, dreamscapes of these instrumentals owe much to Jon Hassell (particularly in the woozy and wobbly effects/treatments) and the early electric fusion of Miles Davis. Unlike its forebears, HIM uses '90s loops and edits, as well as dub and hip-hop rhythms (as on "Trace Elements"). As with much of Hassell's work, the atmosphere is somewhat akin to traveling through an electric underwater jungle.