ERIK IAN WALKER & MARIT BROOK-KOTHLOW: I Have Never Told You

Erik Ian Walker & Marit Brook-Kothlow

I Have Never Told You

© 2003 Erik Ian Walker (634479059414)

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Like a soundtrack to a cool mysterious film: Bees and strings; solo naïve female voice and traffic; piano and teakettles; dark and sensuous; trucks and massive ethereal orchestra; weird old synthesizers, island percussion. What's not to like?

tracks

1 Set Up
2 Far From Here
3 The Cup of Tea
4 Scene Change
5 I Have Never Told You
6 The Gateway
7 The Garden
8 Pause to Refreshen
9 Jump Into An Instant of New
10 Castle Canyon
11 Don't Need It
12 I Can Get Along
13 Fjord Serpent
14 Ferry Across The River
15 Ear Freshener/Reunited
16 A Break in the Action
17 An Image in the Dark
18 The Last Cup of Tea
19 Far From Here (reprise)
20 Furry Lisa

notes

The astonishing new CD release from Erik Ian Walker and Marit Brook-Kothlow is a fascinating, evocative, and engaging combination of forces that play through it's length like a movie bursting with imagery and travels from place to place- all without any film at all.

I HAVE NEVER TOLD YOU combines 3 elements like 3 simultaneously running stories that sweep the listener through passages of introspective, moody, luscious sounds that segue to simple, arresting vocals arriving like directions to the next place on another path, and sudden bursts of rhythm that renew the scenery and prepare one for the next adventure.

Marit Brook-Kothlow, the acclaimed singer/dancer from the Joe Goode Performance Group, Erik Ian Walker , creator of the Kisses, and Dave Mihaly, percussionist extraordinaire, have created a powerful collaborative CD experience distilled from their years of music, experimental theater, dance, and film work. The genesis began on the set of a play in San Francsico and over the next year developed into this astonishing work of emotional power and intimacy- a soundtrack that needs no film.

Searching, deserted violas dissolve into a downtown street corner, a voice wanders by on the street, singing of escape, a sudden snap to a kettle being put on brings in a quietly trudging piano with a gorgeous melody that just won't quit that turns into a massive tower of piano chords and reaches a peak of intense longing just as the shrill whistle of the kettles explode- then a rush of drums bubble in like a creek in a refreshing place. That's one ride. There's five, depending on who's counting.

The Musicians
Erik Ian Walker: piano, hammond organ, Oberheim matrix-12, Buchla synthesizer, tea kettles, fan, percussion, soundscapes
Marit Brook-Kothlow: voice
Phyllis Kamrin: violin, viola
Dave Mihaly: drums, percussion, odd squeaky thing
Ara Anderson: trumpet, baritone horn
Grant Walker: ring mod clarinet
Cameron Ember: soprano in Castle Canyon
Billierae: pump organ

reviews

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  • Once in a while an album comes along that initially leaves one wondering what to
    author: Dene Bebbington

    Once in a while an album comes along that initially leaves one wondering what to make of it. I Have Never Told You is one of those singular albums. Indeed, the music at first blush seems like a mishmash, but there is method in the madness - and humour too with the last track called "Furry Lisa" being a brief version of the classical music piece "Fur Elise". The mood on this album is often contemplative in a languorous way, and a little doleful at times. Even the more lively tracks have a kind of nonchalance that means they never quite become foot tappers. The track "The Cup of Tea" is a great example of the doleful aspect as we hear a gas stove being lit and the sound of a whistling kettle while a solemn melody is played out on piano that briefly rises to a crescendo with the boiling kettle. The listener can be caught out when the style abruptly changes, as in the following track appropriately titled "Scene Change" which bursts into a melody with what I think are hand drums and a trumpet - for some reason this brought to my mind the image of a peculiar carnival. Fans of synth based music will be glad to know that this album isn't all based on acoustic instrumentation. A few of the tracks contain some electronics, notably "Castle Canyon" which despite a variety of environmental sounds such as birdsong and footsteps also has a slowly building drone that hits a peak with an excited violin before finally fading off into nothing. It has taken me several listens of I Have Never Told You to have some appreciation for its shy charm and enigmatic ways. It's the kind of music that would suit a lazy Sunday afternoon reverie.

  • *****I am totally in love with your work!!!
    author: Paul Stockman

    *****I am totally in love with your work!!! Finally, a progressive musician with an appreciation for the value of silence in a body of music; gives it a chance to breathe; and the listener an opportunity to bring their own interpretations to the piece... outstanding, and inspirational!!

  • An interesting path through the combination of Jazz with Meditative Music, Ambie
    author: Amazing Sounds

    "I HAVE NEVER TOLD YOU" Erik Ian Walker and Marit Brook-Kothlow follow an interesting path through the combination of Jazz with Meditative Music, Ambient, and traits of Classical and Experimental. Each one of the themes, although continuing with the general format, gets near one of the styles mentioned before. In certain cases, it is easy to guess the origin of a given musical element, but in others it turns out to be very difficult to imagine it. VIRGINIA TAMAYO

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