Instrumental hip-hop with an international palette, Gnotes’ Inthrumental celebrates the blurry line that separates electronic and organic music. “Technics in the backseat, guitars in the trunk,” explains Gnotes, aka Sean Dwyer, on the joyous opening track. Inthrumental pushes even further the expanding evolution of hip-hop by weaving together a tapestry of diverse sounds into a single living, breathing album. Boom-bap breakbeats provide the foundation for Dwyer’s soulful guitar slides and Afro DZ ak’s live trumpet solos, while interspliced vocal samples allow Gnotes to speak his mind even without his mic. Rather than just layering samples over his beats, Dwyer invited fellow Boston musicians to jam over the skeleton of what would eventually become Instrumental. The result is a bold exploration of the musical possibilities of international hip-hop, with its roots in Brazilian baile funk, Southern blues, British grime, West Coast G-funk, and true-school Afro-Cuban jazz. It’s as if DJ Shadow produced Beck’s forthcoming album and invited Ry Cooder and Miles Davis to jam along. The final track, “PreGnotes,” features bits of Dwyer’s music from before Inthrumental, working backwards from the present to his singer-songwriter days playing acoustic guitar with Ryan Read. Complimenting the audio quality of the Cd is the visual artwork done for the CD by Rad Wayne. Not only does each individual track grow and move with musical dynamism, but the entire album itself seems to be a living creature with purpose and direction. Despite some delightful detours along the way, Inthrumental avoids losing listeners’ attention by constantly moving in exciting and unexpected musical directions. More info can be found at MySpace.com/jddyslexic

Go to iTunes to sample the tunes. If you like them or the artwork, why not give this CD a shot?

Track List:
1. Guitars in the Trunk
2. Souls in the Wind
3. Rememories
4. Gift of Prophecy
5. Fool That I Am (ft. Afro DZ ak)
6. Gnawledge
7. Elle Son
8. A Sunny Day in Seattle
9. Professional Gypsies
10. A Cloudy Day in Cambridge (ft. Kabir)
11. Beautiful Story (ft. Afro DZ ak)
12. OuterGnational
13. Angels Are Trouble
14. Friends of Mine Sing My Songs
15 PreGnotes (El Canyonazo Mix)