PORTLAND HIP-HOP TWITTER (yes, it’s a thing) was ablaze last week as the online community rejoiced over the release of local rapper the Last Artful, Dodgr and producer Neill Von Tally’s highly anticipated new album, Bone Music.
Bone Music quickly caught the attention of Pitchfork contributor Mehan Jayasuriya, who did a lovely and thorough dissection of the album, giving it a pretty favorable 7.2 out of 10 review. “Bone Music takes its name, at least in part, from the Soviet-era practice of bootlegging banned records using X-ray film,” Jayasuriya writes. “It’s a timely reference to censorship, not to mention a fitting title for an album whose focus on the alienation of labor is near-Marxist.”
The record’s 11 melody-driven creations predominantly center on the perspective of the working class, and more specifically, the coal mining industry. Standout track “LLC” is an acronym for “lifelong condition,” and casts Dodgr as a veteran worker, with fellow Portland rapper Myke Bogan playing the boss of the operation. He definitely sounds like one: “Who da fuck is up to nothing/No good rambling, interruptin’, pissin’, pannin’, pushin’ buttons.”
While I’ve always been a big fan of Dodgr’s live performances, the majority of her lyrics are lost on me. That said, the title continues the skeletal theme of her last EP, Fractures. Though it’s clearly experimental, nothing is accidental—Dodgr’s music stays fiercely loyal to thematic consistency.
Bone Music kicks off with her soulful singing on “Caverns,” which then morphs into a conversational rap verse: “Every line that I’m writing’s already set in stone/Coal to diamond ain’t mining them old debts.” Singles like “Oofda” and “Jazz Crimes,” which many local hip-hop fans have already seen Dodgr perform live, act as teasers for the album’s dystopian, post-industrial narrative.
Many of the songs feature looming intros and unorthodox structures, expanding into each other and clouding the distinctions between tracks. I like the way Dodgr contrasts the upsetting parts of labor (like potentially dying young, menial pay, and harsh work environments) with relief she finds in sex and alcohol afterward. And I really dig the two-part track “Good/Gravy” (especially the Gravy), which sounds joyful and romantic with lyrics like “Baby I been thinkin’ boutcha, thinkin’ boutcha all day/Culminated—work is over, ready for play/Got me anxious, got me racing to the doorway.”
While I’m no coal miner, Dodgr and Tally’s latest reminds me of all those years I used to work too hard for low pay at a job I didn’t like. Moody tracks like “Foreclosed” (which features vocals from Portland electro-soul singer/producer Natasha Kmeto) and “Bleu Replica” seal the deal. Give Bone Music a few good listens, and go see Dodgr play Holocene on Valentine’s Day.
