The 2010s brought us a richly engaging array of scores and soundtracks in the film and TV world. I’ve written about a fair number of the electronic-leaning releases in the latter half of the decade, but the 2010s were stacked with great music tied to episodic and certainly cinematic experiences.
With that in mind, here are 30 of my favorite soundtracks and scores from the 2010s that received an official release. It was extraordinarily difficult to narrow these down — extraordinarily. However, by focusing largely on the electronic scores, I was at least able to keep some semblance of focus. (That said, not all on the list are electronic.)
The releases are listed in alphabetic order by composer. Scores with multiple volumes, such as Mac Quayle’s brilliant offering for Mr. Robot, which has seven parts, are treated as a whole for the purposes of the list. Here we go.
Ariel Loh — The Eyes of My Mother // —interview—
Ben Lovett — The Wind // —about the score—
Cliff Martinez (and Various Artists) — Drive // —5th anniversary feature story
Cliff Martinez (and Various Artists) — Too Old To Die Young // —interview—
Clint Mansell — Black Mirror – San Junipero // —review—
Colin Stetson — Hereditary // —interview—
Daft Punk and Joseph Trapanese — TRON: Legacy
Disasterpeace — It Follows // —interview—
Electric Youth — Breathing (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack From A Lost Film) // —interview— and —review—
Eskmo — Billions // —interview—
Fall On Your Sword — Another Earth // —interview—
Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury — Annihilation // —review—
James Newton Howard — Nightcrawler
Jesse Novak (and Various Artists) — BoJack Horseman // —fun premiere—
Jóhann Jóhannsson — Mandy // —review—
Jonny Greenwood — You Were Never Really Here // —review—
Junkie XL — Mad Max: Fury Road
Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein — Stranger Things // —got the tapes?—
Le Matos — Summer of 84 // —interview—
M83 (Anthony Gonzalez) and Joseph Trapanese — Oblivion
Mac Quayle — Mr. Robot // —interview 1— and —interview 2—
Mica Levi — Under The Skin
Nicholas Britell — Succession
Oneohtrix Point Never — Good Time
Paul Haslinger — Halt and Catch Fire // —interview—
Robert Parker and Waveshaper (and Various Artists) — Videoman // —interview—
Sinoia Caves — Beyond the Black Rainbow
Steve Moore — The Guest
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross — The Social Network
Wojciech Golczewski — Tonight She Comes // —interview—
