Another year, another best-of list! Though, as you might be well aware by now, I don’t pretend to actually know what the “best” scores of 2022 were. Instead, this list is really of my favorite scores from last year, presented in no particular order. Creating any list like this is an exercise in the arbitrary, with preferences changing by the minute based on any number of factors like mood, temperature, moon phase, etc. What’s a favorite today may not be one tomorrow.

Nowadays, people seem to complain each year about the (lack of) quality film music. I’m not one of those people. I thought 2022 was filled with very good scores, although I didn’t have many that stood out immediately as favorites, making the exercise a bit more difficult than in past years. In fact, I was able to quickly add a handful of scores I knew would make the top (like Blonde) while determining the remaining ~7 scores was a struggle. Ultimately, I didn’t want to wait until I knew, definitively, those were my ten – once I hit a list I was happy with, I called it a day (otherwise I might still be here, trying to figure things out). Although not intentional, I’m happy with the breadth of music on display in the list, though a few more traditional orchestral scores just barely missed the cut.

  • Blonde – Nick Cave and Warren Ellis (Review)
  • The Batman – Michael Giacchino 
  • The Harder They Fall – Jeymes Samuel
  • Crimes of the Future – Howard Shore (Review)
  • Nope – Michael Abels (Review; Interview)
  • Men – Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury (Review)
  • Bones and All – Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (Review)
  • Kimi – Cliff Martinez (Review)
  • Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery – Nathan Johnson (Interview)
  • Texas Chainsaw Massacre – Colin Stetson (Review; Interview)

Listen to me ramble about these favorites below or on your podcast player of choice (including Spotify and Apple Podcasts). I’ve also previously written about most of these scores, and you can find these write-ups in my monthly recaps.