2016 Reel Music Awards – The Nominations

2016 Reel Music Awards

Now that most of the music for 2016 has been released (I hope so anyway) it’s time for Reel Music to take a look back over the year just passed. I thought that 2016 was another good year for film, television and videogames music and here I want to highlight some of the scores that I particularly enjoyed and which have stood out above the rest. It’s not about what’s the ‘best’ scores of the year though; it’s more a celebration of the music that are favourites of mine.

As with previous years, I have several categories into which the year’s output has been divided and within each category I have chosen (or ‘nominated’) my favourite ten scores*. It’s difficult to articulate the decision process for choosing the various scores: there’s no formal mechanism, it’s how the music makes me feel both as a separate listening experience and – if I am lucky – how the music sits within the medium for which it was written. The quality of music written in 2016 has been very high and many worthy titles have, unfortunately, had to be put to one side and don’t feature in my selections.

I am hoping that my choices will be of interest to people and I would always welcome any feedback on my selections (or my omissions!) I hope that you will want to check out any unfamiliar titles I have listed.

The winners will be announced on Monday, 30th January 2017.

*Note: where there are not enough releases to warrant selecting ten titles, I have chosen five titles.

Score of the Year Award

No nominations for this award will be announced at this time. The winner will be chosen from one of the category winners (excluding the Archival Score categories). This overall award will be announced alongside the various category winners on January 30th.

Drama Score

• 93 Days (NGA, George Kallis) MovieScore Media
• Brothers of the Wind (Wie Brüder Im Wind) (AUT, Sarah Class) Red Bull Media House
• Capsule (UK, Hugo de Chaire & Jim Barne) Filmtrax
• Cézanne et Moi (FRA, Éric Neveux) Pathé Production
• Gernika (ESP, Fernando Velazquez) Quartet Records
• Maresia (BRA, Stefano Lentini) Trance de Musique
• Nocturnal Animals (USA, Abel Korzeniowski) Back Lot Music
• The Childhood of a Leader (UK/FRA/HUN, Scott Walker) 4AD Records
• The Handmaiden (Ah-Ga-Ssi) (KOR, Yeong-wook Jo) CJ Entertainment
• The Vessel (PRI/USA, Hanan Townshend) Hanan Townshend

Action / Adventure / Thriller Score

• Birkebeinerne (The Last King) (NOR, Gaute Storaas) Lydmuren
• Elle (FRA/GER/BEL, Anne Dudley) Sony Classical
• Irréprochable (FRA, Zombie Zombie) Versatile Records
• Jack the Ripper: Eine Frau Jagt Einen Mörder (GER, Egon Riedel) Infect Records
• Panfilov’s 28 (28 Панфиловцев) (RUS, Mikhail Kostylev) Gaijin Entertainment
• Swallows and Amazons (UK, Ilan Eshkeri) Globe Productions
• The Finest Hours (USA, Carter Burwell & Philip Klein) Walt Disney Records
• The Monkey King 2: The Legend Begins (Xi You Ji Zhi: Sun Wukong San Da Baigu Jing) (CHI, Christopher Young) Intrada Special Collection
• Viking (Викинг) (RUS, Igor Matvienko) Muzykal’naya studiya Matviyenko
• Zipi Y Zape Y La Isla Del Capitán (Zip and Zap and The Captain’s Island) (ESP, Fernando Velázquez) Quartet Records

Fantasy / Sci-Fi / Horror Score

• A Monster Calls (USA/ESP, Fernando Velazquez) Quartet Records
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (UK/USA, James Newton Howard) WaterTower Music
• Night of a 1000 Hours (Die Nacht Der 1000 Stunden) (AUT/LUX/NLD, Siegfried Friedrich) Siegfried Friedrich
• Pete’s Dragon (USA, Daniel Hart) Walt Disney Records
• Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (USA, Michael Giacchino) Walt Disney Records
• Smaragdgrün (Emerald Green) (GER, Philipp F. Kölmel) Sony Music Entertainment
• Star Trek Beyond (USA, Michael Giacchino) Varèse Sarabande
• The Curse of Sleeping Beauty (USA, Scott Glasgow) MovieScore Media
• The Mind’s Eye (USA, Steve Moore) Relapse Records
• The Witch (USA/UK/CAN/BRA, Mark Korven) Milan Records

Comedy Score

• Cuerpo De Élite (Heroes Wanted) (ESP, Vicente Ortiz Gimeno) Atresmúsica
• Eddie the Eagle (UK/GER/USA, Matthew Margeson) Varèse Sarabande
• En Man Som Heter Ove (A Man Called Ove) (SWE, Gaute Storaas) Music Super Circus
• Hail, Caesar! (UK/USA/JPN, Carter Burwell) Back Lot Music
• I Am Not Madame Bovary (Wo Bu Shi Pan Jin Lian) (CHI, Du Wei) Unreleased
• Les Visiteurs: La Révolution (FRA/BEL/CZE, Eric Lévi) Editions Milan Music
• Tenants (USA, Spencer Creaghan) Spencer Creaghan/Bandcamp
• The Nice Guys (USA, John Ottman & David Buckley) Lakeshore Records
• Tordenskjold & Kold (DEN/NOR/CZE/SWE, Henrik Skram) Quartet Records
• Zoolander No.2 (USA, Theodore Shapiro) Lakeshore Records

Animation Score

• Bilal: A New Breed of Hero (UAE/SAU, Atli Örvarsson) Lakeshore Records
• Dofus Livre 1: Julith (FRA, Guillaume Houzé) Ankama Music
• Kubo and The Two Strings (USA, Dario Marianelli) Warner Bros.
• La Jeune Fille Sans Mains (The Girl Without Hands) (FRA, Olivier Mellano) Plaza Mayor Company Ltd
• La Tortue Rouge (The Red Turtle) (JPN/FRA/BEL, Laurent Perez del Mar) Quartet Records
• Louise En Hiver (FRA/CAN, Pierre Kellner & Pascal Le Pennec) Unreleased
• Moana (USA, Mark Mancina) Walt Disney Records
• Open Season: Scared Silly (USA, Rupert Gregson-Williams & Dominic Lewis) Varèse Sarabande
• Sausage Party (USA, Alan Menken & Christopher Lennertz) Sony Classical
• Trolls (USA, Christophe Beck) RCA Records

Documentary Score

• 1916: The Irish Rebellion (USA/IRE, Patrick Cassidy) Universal Music
• A Good American (AUT, Christopher Slaski & Guy Farley) Quartet Records
• City of Gold (USA, Bobby Johnston) Lakeshore Records
• Dracula Between Crosses (Istorii Despre Vlad Voievod Drăculea) (ROU, Peter Roe) Peter Roe/Bandcamp
• Les Saisons (Seasons) (FRA/GER, Bruno Coulais) Quartet Records
• Only the Dead See the End of War (AUS/IRQ, Michael Yezerski) Lakeshore Records
• Planet Earth II (UK, Jacob Shea, Jasha Klebe & Hans Zimmer) Silva Screen Records
• Tale of a Lake (Järven Tarina) (FIN, Panu Aaltio) MovieScore Media
• The First Monday in May (USA, Ian Hultquist & Sofia Hultquist) Little Twig Records
• The Ivory Game (AUT, H. Scott Salinas) Red Bull Media House

Television Score

• American Horror Story: Roanoke (USA, Mac Quayle) Unreleased
• Bana Sevmeyi Anlat (Season 1) (TUR, Toygar Işıklı) Arven Records
• Game of Thrones (Season 6) (USA/UK, Ramin Djawadi) Varèse Sarabande
• In Plain Sight (UK, Nina Humphreys) Unreleased
• Penny Dreadful (Season 3) (USA/IRE/UK, Abel Korzeniowski) Varèse Sarabande
• Shizumanu Taiyô (The Never-Setting Sun) (Season 1) (JPN, Naoki Sato) Nippon Columbia
• Stranger Things (Season 1) (USA, Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein) Lakeshore Records
• The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses (UK, Dan Jones) Wave Theory Records
• The Night Manager (UK/USA, Victor Reyes) Silva Screen Records
• War & Peace (UK, Martin Phipps) Dubois Records

Short Film Score

• Baraka (ESP, Marcos Cruz) iM Marcos Cruz Lloréns
• Beyond (USA, Siddhartha Barnhoorn) Siddhartha Barnhoorn/Bandcamp
• Creatures of Whitechapel (USA/UK, Gerrit Wunder) Screamworks Records
• Harbinger (USA, Arlin Tawzer) East Quinn Place
• Introspection (FRA, HOENIX) HOENIX Music
• Kiss the Devil in the Dark (USA, Gerrit Wunder) Screamworks Records
• Pixel Soldier (NLD/UK, Alex Ball & Scott Hazell) Alex Ball
• Reborn (CHE, Raphael Sommer) Sommer Filmmusik
• Trace (NOR, Kristian Brastein & Thomas Tøndelstrand) Kristian Brastein
• Vive Solo Chi Si Muove! (ITA, Kristian Sensini) Unreleased

Interactive Game Score

• Anima: Gate of Memories (ESP, Damián Sánchez) Sonotrigger
• Battlefield 1 (SWE, Johan Söderqvist & Patrik Andrén) EATM Music
• Firewatch (USA, Chris Remo) Campo Santo
• Minecraft: Chinese Mythology (SWE, Gareth Coker) Microsoft Studios Music
• Offworld Trading Company (USA, Christopher Tin) Tin Works
• Owlboy (NOR, Jonathan Geer) Jonathan Geer/Bandcamp
• ReCore (JPN/USA, Chad Seiter) Microsoft Studios Music
• Seasons After Fall (FRA, Yann van der Cruyssen) G4F Records
• The Last Guardian (JPN, Takeshi Furukawa) Sony Interactive Entertainment
• World War Toons (USA, Kevin Smithers) Unreleased

Score Composed for Other Media

• Enemy of Rome (CAN, score by Oz Nelson for a web-based series) Oz Nelson/Bandcamp
• Fall of Gods: She Is Gone (FRA, score by François Jolin for an illustrated book) Lakeshore Records
• Infinite (USA, score by Mike Raznick for a cancelled videogame) Mike Raznick/Bandcamp
• Outside (FRA, concept album by Maximilien Mathevon) Plaza Mayor Company Ltd.
• Rabbit & Rogue (USA, score by Danny Elfman for a 2008 ballet) Sony Classical
• Reality Check (POL, concept album by Wojciech Golczewski) Death Waltz Originals
• Ren: The Girl with the Mark (UK, score by Rob Westwood for a web-based series) Rob Westwood/Bandcamp
• Sunborn Rising: Beneath the Fall (USA, score by Sean Beeson for an illustrated book) Neoglyphic Entertainment
• Tales of the Forgotten: Episode 2 – Unexpected Guests (USA, score by Dylan C. Jones & Piyatut “Bill” Hemstapat for a Visual Soundtrack Saga) Tales of the Forgotten/Patreon

Archival Score

• Hellboy (2004) (USA, Marco Beltrami) Varèse Sarabande
• Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) (USA, Jerry Goldsmith) Intrada Records
• Seven (1995) (USA, Howard Shore) Howe Records
• Space:1999 (Year Two) (1976) (UK, David Wadsworth) Fanderson Records
• Spazio 1999 (1975) (UK/ITA, Ennio Morricone) Penta Music
• Starship Troopers (1997) (USA, Basil Poledouris) Varèse Sarabande
• The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1974) (UK/USA, Miklós Rózsa) Intrada Special Collection
• The Man Who Fell To Earth (1976) (UK, Stomu Yamash’ta & John Phillips) UMC (Universal Music Catalogue)
• The Ten Commandments (1956) (USA, Elmer Bernstein) Intrada Records
• The Terminator (1984) (USA, Brad Fiedel) Milan Records

Archival Score (Digital Release)

• Battle For Sevastopol (Битва За Севастополь) (2015) (RUS/UKR, Evgueni Galperine) Natsional’noye Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo
• Don Juan En Los Infiernos (Don Juan In Hell) (1991) (ESP, Alejandro Massó) Milan Sur
• Finnlandia (2001) (GER, Wilhelm Stegmeier) Wilhelm Stegmeier/Bandcamp
• Il Cantico Di Maddalena (2011) (ITA, Marco Marcuzzi) Silvius
• Mia et Le Migou (2008) (FRA/ITA, Serge Besset) Milan Music
• Preston Tylk (Bad Seed) (2000) (USA, Kurt Kuenne) Kurt Kuenne
• Shadowboxing (Бой С Тенью) (2005) (RUS, Alexei Shelygin) M2BA
• Swung (2015) (UK, Richard Harvey & Alex Menzies) West One Music
• The Drummer (Zhan. Gu) (2007) (HKG/YWN/GER, Andre Matthias) Score and More Music
• Woodlawn (2015) (USA, Paul Mills) Reunion Records

New Recording of an Archival Score

• Gojira (Godzilla) (1954) (JPN, Akira Ifukube) Kaoru Wada/Japan Century Symphony Orchestra/King Records
• Planet of the Apes (1968) (USA, Jerry Goldsmith) John O’Callaghan/Pithikos Entertainment
• The Blue Max (1966) (UK, Jerry Goldsmith) Nic Raine/City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra/Tadlow Music
• The Thief of Bagdad (1940) (UK, Miklós Rózsa) Nic Raine/City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra/Prometheus Records/Tadlow Music
• Zur Chronik Von Grieshuus (The Chronicles of the Gray House) (1925) (GER, Gottfried Huppertz) Frank Strobel/Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra/Pan Classics