Zwerg, Sepsis, **** [The Coast, March 19-26, 1998]
Originality goes a long way. Luckily, that's not all Jason Betts has to go on. Betts is Zwerg--piano and vocals and writer of all songs. He's thrown in Rick White for bass, guitar, percussion and sounds but Zwerg is really Betts. Sepsis is seven tunes founded in Betts' chilling classical piano and severe voice (one that makes you cringe when you listen to it, though not because it's bad, because it must hurt to sing that way, you think). Listening to Sepsis gives you the feeling that Betts has given you an unadulterated glimpse into himself. There's no translation on this disc, no easing of the songs into listenable form and no striving. The music simply is. And that is a very enjoyable thing.
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