Skip to main content

The Manual may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site.

New Music Monday: OOFJ

new music monday oofj
Image used with permission by copyright holder
OOFJ - Acute Feast Cover Electronic duo OOFJ (short for “Orchestra of Jenno”) will release their sophomore record, Acute Feast, on April 21 via Ring the Alarm. Comprised of Jens Bjørnkjær and Katherine Mills Rymer, the pair met in New York City while Bjørnkjær worked on the score for Lars von Trier’s Melancholia. The chance encounter turned out to be a fortuitous one, sparking what would become both a romantic and creative relationship for the two.

That Bjørnkjær was working on Melancholia when he and Mills Rymer met is telling of OOFJ’s music. The pair’s songs have a dark, heavy electronic sound that tends toward the experimental. Mills Rymer’s vocals play an integral role here. Her singing is ethereal, adding a contrasting element to the deeper instrumentals behind it. Though her voice sounds almost fragile, the contrast it brings adds a depth of sound to Acute Feast and reinforces a certain sensuousness to the music. This is perhaps clearest on album opener “You’re Always Good.” It should come as no surprise to listeners that the two are a couple both musically and romantically.

OOFJ - YOU'RE ALWAYS GOOD

Though OOFJ is short for “Orchestra of Jenno,” it is worth noting that neither half of the pair is particularly invested in the pronunciation of the acronym. Bjørnkjær noted in an interview, “When we started [making music] together, we made [the name] short…It’s not a very sexy explanation.” In the same interview, Mills Rymer added, “You can say [the name] in whatever way you want. In some ways that’s kind of subversive.”

OOFJ - I FORGIVE YOU

To call the openness of OOFJ’s pronunciation “subversive” may be a bit of a stretch, but the duo’s music itself moves in that direction without a doubt. Equal parts glamorous and nightmarish, with a glittery seductive tone to it, Acute Feast points toward a sexier, almost ghost-like world.

SNAKEHIPS

OOFJ’s Acute Feast is available April 21 via Amazon, iTunes, and Ring the Alarm.

Dave Sanford
Former Digital Trends Contributor
From Gilda Radner to Ali Wong, these are the best female comedians of all time
These women from all generations will make you laugh out loud
Ai Wong comedian 2017 Moontower comedy festival

Hot take: I don’t care for straight male comedians. It’s not that they’re not funny, they’re just … I don’t know, boring? Maybe that’s reductive of me, but I never seem to leave a straight male comedian’s set feeling particularly inspired. And though some may argue that it’s not important for a set to "inspire" its audience, I’d actually argue that the opposite is true. For me, I want to see a comedian use humor to address real issues and say real things about the world, even if they do it in a completely goofy way.

Therefore, I tend to prefer female and female-identified comedians. They’re sharp, tough, and have often seen shit that makes their comedy feel raw and true. Undoubtedly there are male comedians who do this, too, but to a much lesser degree, in my very humble and very personal opinion.

Read more
12 classic sci-fi books everyone should read
If you love science fiction and reading, these classic sci-fi novels are a must
Man reading a book and drinking coffee

It may feel like we were recently living in a science-fiction dystopia life -- and in some ways, we were -- but that doesn't mean that we should simply avoid an entire genre of writing. Hardly. In fact, this is probably the perfect time to explore classic sci-fi books, to see what the masters have written, and maybe even see if someone predicted anything like this. Many, though, simply ignore sci-fi wholly and completely because of an association with robots, aliens, and the like.

Long story short, if you think you don't like sci-fi, you have never read great books from the genre. But indeed, many such books abound, including a number that has delighted generations of readers going back well over 150 years. In fact, one of the best things about so many sci-fi books is their very timelessness. As by definition, this type of fiction breaks away from the norms of the everyday world -- whether slightly twisting things or taking place on entire other worlds -- the stories often feel as fresh and relevant today as when they were published decades ago.

Read more
The 7 best classic fantasy books to get lost in
Even adults can enjoy entering the fantasy world
Man reading a book

Using the term "fantasy" when it comes to fiction, we are admittedly casting a pretty wide net. After all, think about just how many shows and movies could technically be considered fantasy, too. If. we're talking about classic, canonical fantasy, though, the net shrinks considerably. If a book is to stand the test of time to be considered a classic -- regardless of genre -- it has to be damn good. At the risk of offending plenty of authors and fantasy fans both of yesteryear and today, most fantasy writing ... how should I put this? In a few decades, it won't be on some future writer's list of fantasy classics.

I say all that as an absolute fan of fantasy writing. From the Game of Thrones books, our era's Lord of the Rings, to the novels of Neil Gaiman, to the Twilight series (except not that), there is a plethora of great fantasy writing being produced today. But if you're looking to get into the genre or are already an aficionado with a few gaps in your reading list, classic fantasy novels are always a fine choice, as are classic mysteries, classic adventure books, and on it goes across every genre of literature.

Read more