2021 Reel Music Awards – The Nominations

It has been a long time coming but – at last – here are my shortlists for a number of different genres of scores from projects released in 2021 which I believe are worth highlighting for praise. My main goal is to celebrate a selection of music that I particularly enjoyed over the past 12 months or so. I am sure that most people will be familiar with a lot of my selections but I hope that there are a few that are a little less well-known that will be come favourites for my readers.

As with previous years, I will post my personal favourites in this nominations post and then single out an overall favourite score of the year (I do not propose that my selections are “the best”). As always, any mistakes or inaccurate information are of my own hand and I apologise in advance!

So, peruse the shortlists and see if they agree with your own favourites from 2021. I will announce my winners in due course.

ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DRAMA FEATURE

• Benedetta (FRA/BEL/NLD, Anne Dudley) Dubois Records
• Buckley’s Chance (CAN/AUS, Christopher Gordon) Christopher Gordon
• The Curious Tale of Mr. Guo/不老奇事 (CHN, Tao Lui) Running Monster (Beijing) Culture and Entertainment Co., Ltd.
• The Curse of Turandot/图兰朵：魔咒缘起 (CHN, Simon Franglen) Milan Records
• Jai Bhim (IND, Sean Roldan) Sony Music Entertainment India Pvt. Ltd.
• The Last Duel (USA/UK, Harry Gregson-Williams) Hollywood Records
• Parallel Mothers/Madres Paralelas (ESP, Alberto Iglesias) Quartet Records
• Quo Vadis, Aida? (BIH/AUT/ROU/NLD/DEU/POL/FRA/TUR/NOR, Antoni Komasa-Łazarkiewicz) MovieScore Media
• There is No Evil/Sheytan Vojud Nadarad (DEU/IRN/CZE, Amir Molookpour) MovieScore Media
• The Tragedy of Macbeth (USA, Carter Burwell) Milan Records

ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A COMEDY FEATURE

• 8-bit Christmas (USA, Joseph Trapanese) Watertower Music
• Amalgama (MEX, Felipe Pérez Santiago) Besos Cósmicos
• Boys from County Hell (IRL/UK, Steve Lynch) MovieScore Media
• Chi ha incastrato Babbo Natale? (ITA, Umberto Scipione) Decca (UMO) Classics (CAM)
• Délicieux/Delicious (FRA/BEL, Christophe Julien) Nord-Ouest Films
• Help, I Shrunk My Friends/Hilfe, Ich Hab Meine Freunde Geschrumpft (DEU, Anne-Kathrin Dern) MovieScore Media
• La Befana vien di Notte II: Le Origini (ITA, Michele Braga/Emanuele Bossi) Sony Music Publishing
• Love, Lost & Found (USA, James Schafer) James Schafer Music, Inc.
• The Potato Venture/Peruna (FIN, Panu Aaltio) MovieScore Media
• What About Molly? (USA, Jayna Chou) Records DK2

ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLER FEATURE

• Beckett (ITA/BRA, Ryuichi Sakamoto) Milan Records
• Clue: The Maltese Mystery/Clue: Maltesergåten (NOR, Henrik Skram) Henrik Skram
• Eagle Wings (NGA, Chuck Okudo) His Majesty’s Music
• Gunpowder Milkshake (FRA/DEU/USA, Frank Ilfman) Milan Records
• The Handler (USA, Grant Kirkhope) Kirkcophony
• Karnan (IND, Santhosh Narayanan) Think Music
• No Time To Die (UK/USA/ITA/CAN, Hans Zimmer) Decca (UMO) (Classics)
• The Novice (USA, Alex Weston) Milan Records
• The Rising Hawk (UKR/USA, Josh Atchley) Josh Atchley
• Vanguard/急先鋒 (CHN, Nathan Wang) No Label

ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A FANTASY/SCIENCE FICTION/HORROR FEATURE

• Black Widow (USA/HUN, Lorne Balfe) Hollywood Records
• The Claus Family 2/De Familie Claus 2 (BEL, Anne-Kathrin Dern) MovieScore Media
• Coppelia (NLD/BEL/DEU, Maurizio Malagnini) Dubois Records
• Fear Street Part Two: 1978 (USA, Marco Beltrami/Brandon Roberts) Milan Records
• Free Guy (USA, Christophe Beck) Hollywood Records
• Occupation: Rainfall (AUS, Frederik Wiedmann) Kaleido Sound
• The Reckoning (UK, Christopher Drake) Filmtrax Ltd.
• Spider-Man: No Way Home (USA, Michael Giacchino) Sony Classical
• The Tomorrow War (USA, Lorne Balfe) Milan Records
• Violation (CAN, Andrea Boccadoro) Air-Edel Records

ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ANIMATED FEATURE

• The Deer King/鹿の王 ユナと約束の旅 (JPN, Harumi Fuuki) Rambling Records
• An Egg Rescue/Un Rescate de Huevitos (MEX, Zacarias M. de la Riva) MovieScore Media
• Legend of Destruction (ISR, Assaf Talmudi/Yonatan Albalak) NaNa Disc
• Mobile Suit GUNDAM: Hathaway/機動戦士ガンダム 閃光のハサウェイ (JPN, Hiroyuki Sawano) SUNRISE
• My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission/僕のヒーローアカデミア THE MOVIE ワールドヒーローズミッション (JPN, Yuki Hayashi) Milan Records
• Pil (FRA, Olivier Cussac) Music Box Records
• The Summit of the Gods/Le Sommet des Dieux (LUX/FRA, Amine Bouhafa) 22D Music
• Superworm (UK, René Aubry/Terry Davies) Magic Light Pictures Ltd.
• Wish Dragon (CHN/USA, Philip Klein) Milan Records
• The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf (KOR/USA, Brian D’Oliveira) Milan Records

ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DOCUMENTARY FEATURE, SHORT FEATURE OR SERIES

• 14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible (USA/UK, Nainita Desai) Lakeshore Records
• The Arctic: Our Last Great Wilderness (USA, Alex Heffes) Lakeshore Records
• Les Enfants Terribles (FRA/TUR/DEU, John Gürtler/Jan Miserre) Paradox Paradise Berlin
• A Perfect Planet (UK/USA, Ilan Eshkeri) Sony Classical
• The Red Orchestra/Die Rote Kapelle (BEL/DEU/ISR, Eloi Ragot) Reality Bytes
• The Sound of Identity (USA, Nicolas Repetto) MovieScore Media
• Syndrome K (USA, Stephen Edwards) MovieScore Media
• Tale of the Sleeping Giants/Tunturin Tarina (FIN, Panu Aaltio) MovieScore Media
• Universe (UK, Anže Rozman) Silva Screen Records
• Woman In Motion (USA, Colin O’Malley) No Label

ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A TELEVISION SERIES

• Arcane: League of Legends [S1] (USA/FRA, Riot Games Music Team) Riot Games
• Lost in Space [S3] (USA, Christopher Lennertz) Milan Records
• Luce dei Tuoi Occhi [S1] (ITA, Savio Riccardi) RTI
• Masters of the Universe: Revelation [S1] (USA, Bear McCreary) Mattel-Arts Music
• The Nevers [S1] (UK/USA, Mark Isham) Watertower Music
• Nos Tempo do Imperador [S1] (BRA, Sacha Amback/Rafael Langoni) Som Livre
• Pacific Rim: The Black [S1] (USA/AUS, Brandon Campbell) Milan Records
• Red Pawn [S1] (USA, Scott McRae/Ryan Rapsys) Records DK
• Space Command [S1] (USA, David Raiklen) No Label
• Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy: Kingdom [S1] (USA, Alexander Bornstein) Hasbro Catalog

ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A VIDEO GAME OR OTHER INTERACTIVE GAME

• Call of Duty: Vanguard (Bear McCreary) Activision
• Death’s Door (David Fenn) Laced Records
• Dying Light 2: Stay Human (Olivier Deriviere) Ameo Publishing
• Escape from Naraka (Yohan Jager) Black Screen Records
• Genshin Impact: The Shimmering Voyage (Yu-Peng Chen/HOYO-MiX) MiHoYo
• GRIME (Alex Roe) Materia Collective
• Immortals Fenyx Rising: The Lost Gods (Gareth Coker) Ubisoft Music
• Lineage W – A World Pledged With Blood (NCSOUND) NCsoft
• New World (Ramin Djawadi/Brandon Campbell) No Label
• Timberborn (Zofia Domaradzka) Zofia Domaradzka

ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A SHORT FILM

• Al and the Meteor (USA, David James Nielsen) David James Nielsen
• Anjos (BRA, Tim Fontes) Tim Fontes
• A Blue Story (ESP, Carme Rodríguez) Carme Rodríguez
• Halfdanr (USA, Jesse Haugen) Records DK
• The Little Prince(ss) (USA, Robert Ouyang Rusli) Walt Disney Records
• Ninja (AUS, T63) EVMusic
• Reklaw (USA, David Kokonchev) Records DK
• Sky Shelter (DEU, Daniele Garuglieri) Records DK
• Sprite Fright (NLD, Ben J. Lee) Bryn Mead Studios Inc.
• Yuria (ITA, Francesco Fortunato) Francesco Fortunato

ORIGINAL SCORE FOR OTHER MEDIA

• The Coat ([music for a theatre production], Armin Radnia) Octiive
• Freedom: William Bradford and the American Pilgrims ([music for an audio drama], Jared DePasquale) Records DK2
• The Human Condition (Ninjen non Joken) ([series of string quartets based on scores from 1959-1965], Javier Bayon) John Palmer Records
• La Sorcière au Cœur de Pierre ([music for a theatre production], Erwann Chandon) MSA Records
• Laid to Waste ([music for an audio drama], Jacob McNatt) Records DK
• The Last Bastion ([music for an unmade film], Adam Gibbons) The Bastion Music Group
• Lost Themes III: Alive After Death ([studio album], John Carpenter) Sacred Bones Records
• The Pharaoh’s Golden Parade ([music for a parade of Pharaohs event], Hesham Nazih) DMC
• The Pineal DMT ([music for a visual instillation], Joshua Ryan) Joshua Ryan Music
• The Snow Queen ([music for a theatre production], Benji Inniger) Benji Inniger

NEW ARCHIVE RELEASE (PHYSICAL MEDIA)

• The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) (Alfred Newman) La-La Land Records
• The Don Davis Collection (vol. 1): Space Odyssey: Voyage to the Planets (2004) (Don Davis) Dragon’s Domain Recording
• The Matrix (1999) (Don Davis) Varese Sarabande
• The Public Eye (Unused) (1992) (Jerry Goldsmith) Intrada Special Collection
• The Tamarind Seed (1974) (John Barry) Silva Screen Records

NEW ARCHIVE RELEASE (DIGITAL MEDIA)

• Blood of Zeus (2020) (USA, Paul Edward-Francis) Milan Records
• El Incidente (2015) (MEX, Edy Lan) Music Nerds
• Eşkıya Dünyaya Hükümdar Olmaz [S5/S6] (2019) (TUR, Levent Güneş/Ayşe Önder/Engin Arslan) Z SES GÖRÜNTÜ
• In the Trap (2020) (ITA, Massimiliano Mechelli) Cinevox Records
• La Sombra de Nadie (2006) (ESP, Aitor Amezaga) Autoproducido
• Ling Cage/灵笼 (2019) (CHN, Bingyin Yang) Wuhan Yihua Kaitian Culture Communication Co., Ltd.
• Marnie (1964) (USA, Bernard Herrmann) Back Lot Music
• MineRalph (2019) (Rune R.B. Eskildsen) MineRalph
• Star Wars: Battlefront II (2017) (USA, Gordy Haab) Walt Disney Records
• Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia Saga (2016) (USA/MEX, Jeff Danna/Tim Davies) Back Lot Music

NEW COMPILATION RELEASE (PHYSICAL OR DIGITAL MEDIA)

• Fictions (Champo Villa) La Réserve
• The Film Scores of Bernard Herrmann (Bernard Herrmann) Decca Records
• Pessi Levanto Portfolio (Pessi Levanto) MovieScore Media
• Shigeru Umebayashi: Music for Film (Shigeru Umebayashi) Silva Screen Records
• Short Cuts 2020 (various composers) MovieScore Media