The Ultimate Gift
Mark McKenzie
" It's a change in McKenzie's writing that makes it interesting "Written by Thomas Glorieux - Review of the regular release
For a long time, Mark McKenzie was considered to be that big heart drama composer that could bring all strings and brass together to create an amazing soundscape of emotion, heart and old fashioned themes. In a way it was expected of him in whichever score. And it is always interesting if we don't get what we want, because then composers can show us something we haven't heard before.
If people see The Ultimate Gift as a return to say Durango or Garcia Lorca, they will proven wrong for once. I'm even surprised to find something ala Rachel Portman in this, because it is her soft and subdued material that mellows the heart of the listener from the very first track.
In "The Ultimate Gift Main Title" he brings his main theme after a moody opening. In a way this theme is a warm one, but you lack his overflowing sense of drama (and I mean this in the best possible way). Not all music by McKenzie needs to be big, powerful and emotional. Here it fits with what you're about to hear in the next 40 minutes. With "City Boy in Texas" McKenzie brings out the Texan jig, brought forward through the harmonica and guitar. Other sprightly moments are discovered in "Bum's Bench" and "Park Picnic" that combines Thomas Newman's sprightly piano style with the lovely flutes of a Mark McKenzie.
Mark's music however is mostly covered in the soft dramatic sense, through piano in "Emily's Chemo", "Those Arms Are for You" and in "One Shouldn't Lose a Son". It's however in the variations that we receive more than we bargained for. How 'bout some little change in flavor? "Arrival in Ecuador" for instance has native flutes and a spicy guitar performance, and "Childhood Letter" holds a lovely guitar moment alongside the main theme.
With "Plane Wreckage" we begin and end moody with the ethnic touch, but in between McKenzie paints his main theme softly on the dramatic tone. And when he brings small variations to his theme (no matter how small), they are always charming to notice ("Captivity", "What's Your Dream?" or in "Emily's Legacy"). However the biggest suprises come in the next couple of tracks. "'The Firing Squad" let's us discover Mark's own percussive synthesiser programming, creating a small combination of tension and unease. Don't wory, like most of McKenzie's stuff this is totally tonal.
Luckily's McKenzie's known style shows up too in "Redemption", creating a fashionable main theme performance under glorious gliding string. 2 Songs end the disc, and for me one fits and one doesn't. "Something Changed" kinda reminds me of the song used over the credits of Pleasantville (Across the Universe by Fiona Apple), while the other one is just too damn strong, ending the CD and tone of the album in a completely different pace.
Luckily, before all that we discovered a different Mark McKenzie, meaning one that delivers us soft and mellow material. And this doesn't mean the quality of McKenzie's writing is forgotten in the end, because the same quality still flows through the veins of the music. This makes The Ultimate Gift just a nice pleasing listen that definitely works as a background score. Okay, so it's not one of his best, but it does show diversity that continues to inspire an already rich career of high quality scores.
Tracklisting
1. The Ultimate Gift Main Title (3.03)
2. City Boy in Texas (1.22)
3. Bum's Bench (0.47)
4. Emily's Chemo (1.24)
5. I've Seen What Money Can Do (1.03)
6. Those Arms Are For You (1.20)
7. Park Picnic (0.44)
8. Arrival in Ecuador (1.00)
9. Childhood Letter (1.16)
10. Family Thanksgiving * (3.27)
11. Plane Wreckage (3.06)
12. Captivity (2.56)
13. The Firing Squad (3.12)
14. One Shouldn't Lose A Son (0.51)
15. What's Your Dream? (2.37)
16. Emily's Legacy (2.37)
17. Redemption (1.30) Excellent track
18. Red's Goodbye (1.36)
19. Texas Christmas / A Perfect Day (2.08)
20. Two Billion ** (1.43)
21. Something Changed: Sara Groves (3.46)
22. Legacy: Ed Goggin (3.03)
* Written by G.F.Handel
** Written by Mark McKenzie & Kelly Morrison
Total Length: 44.29
If people see The Ultimate Gift as a return to say Durango or Garcia Lorca, they will proven wrong for once. I'm even surprised to find something ala Rachel Portman in this, because it is her soft and subdued material that mellows the heart of the listener from the very first track.
In "The Ultimate Gift Main Title" he brings his main theme after a moody opening. In a way this theme is a warm one, but you lack his overflowing sense of drama (and I mean this in the best possible way). Not all music by McKenzie needs to be big, powerful and emotional. Here it fits with what you're about to hear in the next 40 minutes. With "City Boy in Texas" McKenzie brings out the Texan jig, brought forward through the harmonica and guitar. Other sprightly moments are discovered in "Bum's Bench" and "Park Picnic" that combines Thomas Newman's sprightly piano style with the lovely flutes of a Mark McKenzie.
Mark's music however is mostly covered in the soft dramatic sense, through piano in "Emily's Chemo", "Those Arms Are for You" and in "One Shouldn't Lose a Son". It's however in the variations that we receive more than we bargained for. How 'bout some little change in flavor? "Arrival in Ecuador" for instance has native flutes and a spicy guitar performance, and "Childhood Letter" holds a lovely guitar moment alongside the main theme.
With "Plane Wreckage" we begin and end moody with the ethnic touch, but in between McKenzie paints his main theme softly on the dramatic tone. And when he brings small variations to his theme (no matter how small), they are always charming to notice ("Captivity", "What's Your Dream?" or in "Emily's Legacy"). However the biggest suprises come in the next couple of tracks. "'The Firing Squad" let's us discover Mark's own percussive synthesiser programming, creating a small combination of tension and unease. Don't wory, like most of McKenzie's stuff this is totally tonal.
Luckily's McKenzie's known style shows up too in "Redemption", creating a fashionable main theme performance under glorious gliding string. 2 Songs end the disc, and for me one fits and one doesn't. "Something Changed" kinda reminds me of the song used over the credits of Pleasantville (Across the Universe by Fiona Apple), while the other one is just too damn strong, ending the CD and tone of the album in a completely different pace.
Luckily, before all that we discovered a different Mark McKenzie, meaning one that delivers us soft and mellow material. And this doesn't mean the quality of McKenzie's writing is forgotten in the end, because the same quality still flows through the veins of the music. This makes The Ultimate Gift just a nice pleasing listen that definitely works as a background score. Okay, so it's not one of his best, but it does show diversity that continues to inspire an already rich career of high quality scores.
Tracklisting
1. The Ultimate Gift Main Title (3.03)
2. City Boy in Texas (1.22)
3. Bum's Bench (0.47)
4. Emily's Chemo (1.24)
5. I've Seen What Money Can Do (1.03)
6. Those Arms Are For You (1.20)
7. Park Picnic (0.44)
8. Arrival in Ecuador (1.00)
9. Childhood Letter (1.16)
10. Family Thanksgiving * (3.27)
11. Plane Wreckage (3.06)
12. Captivity (2.56)
13. The Firing Squad (3.12)
14. One Shouldn't Lose A Son (0.51)
15. What's Your Dream? (2.37)
16. Emily's Legacy (2.37)
17. Redemption (1.30) Excellent track
18. Red's Goodbye (1.36)
19. Texas Christmas / A Perfect Day (2.08)
20. Two Billion ** (1.43)
21. Something Changed: Sara Groves (3.46)
22. Legacy: Ed Goggin (3.03)
* Written by G.F.Handel
** Written by Mark McKenzie & Kelly Morrison
Total Length: 44.29