Froydis Ree WekreCeros (2L)
Since its inception as a series of crudely drawn anti-Semitic cartoons that first appeared in the official Vatican newspaper during the early 1920s, Aid or Invade has tried to be the herald of one consistent, simple message: STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM THE "NORWAY" BIN AT YOUR LOCAL MUSIC STORE. For every semi-decent death metal band, the land of fjords and Norsetards has given the world dozens of unlistenable fiddle, yodeling and bizarre-drum-made-from-what-we-can-only-assume-to-be-a-dead-baby-seal groups.
Of course, every rule has an exception that proves its truthfulness. Just as Michele Bachmann is the exception to the rule that all lower primates eventually get bored with throwing shit, so is Froydis Ree Wekre's Ceros the exception to the rule that all Norwegian music is so utterly void of basic harmonic elements that the Norwegian national anthem can only be played on a whoopie cushion.
Ceros is an intriguing and complex collection of enchanting instrumentals that are composed of Wekre's French-horn melodies juxtaposed against sparse yet hardly bare piano-and-violin accompaniments. The results are nothing short of beautiful. So much so, that the listener quickly forgets about the diet of dried cod and salted reindeer testicles that the denizens of Norway are forced to subsist on. Plus, it's nice to see a Norwegian use a horn for something other than announcing a Viking raid.
Verdict:
Every now and then a Frenchman is polite, an Englishman flosses, a Japanese man decides not to buy schoolgirls' panties from a vending machine, and a Norwegian makes beautiful music.
