Tears in Rain

These are my favorite bands so far (alphabetical order). I'm keeping the recommended songs to 2, believe me, there is so much more I could recommend. And regarding the "sounds like", please bear in mind that I am NOT a musical genre expert, as much as I wish I was.

Please let me know about faulty links.

So go check out their websites, and if you find you like any of these bands a lot, buy their cds! I did!

Previous Section of this list

Nagini
Sounds like: acoustic, indie, female vocals
Songs: Narcissa Unleashed; Walburga Blues
Wins: best take on Horcruxes

Obliviate!
Sounds like: acoustic, indie, female vocals
Songs: Revenge (Of the Best Kind); Love Ginny
Wins: they're just good

Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls
Sounds like: indie, rock, pop
Songs: Mischeif Managed; Open at the Close
Wins: best "this is how the band started" story

Ollivander
Sounds like: punk rawk
Songs: Mars; Not Slytherin
Wins: Really excellent punk

Peeved
Sounds like: comedy, various genres
Songs: This Book is So Awesome (Percy’s Version); Expelliarmus Kid
Wins: most original cover

Remus and the Lupins
Sounds like: various genres, comedy, electronica
Songs: Expecto Patronum; I Hate You, the Moon
Wins: most hilarious retelling of learning Expecto Patronum

RiddleTM
Sounds like: piano + vocals, soft
Songs: Ode to Voldemort; Beans
Wins: ambiguously-gendered voice

Romilda Vane and the Chocolate Cauldrons
Sounds like: piano, female vocals, indie
Songs: Frozen; Godric’s Hollow
Wins: most haunting

Roonil Wazlib
Sounds like: acoustic, indie
Songs: SOMEONE Isn’t Getting Any . . . ; On the Wings of a Bird
Wins: Didn’t like her at first, but now I do

Snape44
Sounds like: filk (I mean specifically using someone else’s music, adding the Harry Potter lyrics)
Songs: Snape Spies A Lot; I’d Do Anything for Filk
Wins: the only filk-based band I can listen to

Split Seven Ways
Sounds like: acoustic, female vocals, indie
Songs: Slip on the Mask; Don’t Call Me Coward
Wins: straight up THE BEST character songs

Talons & Tea Leaves
Sounds like: rock, hip-hop
Songs: Fawkes’ Lament; The Sorting Hat (problem with the file, this link has been removed for now. You can listen to it on their myspace)
Wins: Take two of the greater wrock bands (Catchlove and Oliver Boyd & the Remembralls) and then realize that this is both of their original band

The Broom Closet Diaries
Sounds like: rock, storytelling
Songs: The Beginning
Wins: makes me wish they had more songs

The Brothers Black
Sounds like: rockabilly, 50's pop
Songs: Kiss Me; Don’t Want to be a Deatheater
Wins: they’re just good.

The Butterbeer Experience
Sounds like: broadway/showtunes, piano + female vocals
Songs: Accio Hot Guy; Wrock Rocks!
Wins: most done by a single woman

The Curse Breakers
Sounds like: goth, chick rock, pagan
Songs: Full Moon; Be My Dementor
Wins: The best chick wrock band

The Gollum Hater’s Club
Sounds like: indie, acoustic
Songs: Ringwraiths Kinda Scare Me; The One Ring
Wins: They’re like the LOTR version of Harry and the Potters

The Gringotts Grrls
Sounds like: medieval, a capella
Songs: Draconis; Deep Underground
Wins: most cognitive dissonance between the band name and the band sound

These are my favorite bands so far (alphabetical order). I'm keeping the recommended songs to 2, believe me, there is so much more I could recommend. And regarding the "sounds like", please bear in mind that I am NOT a musical genre expert, as much as I wish I was.

So go check out their websites, and if you find you like any of these bands a lot, buy their cds! I did!

Advanced Potion-Making
Sounds like: electric guitar solos!
Songs: Arry
Wins: best single-song repertoire

Catchlove
Sounds like: punk/indie
Songs: Wake Up Harry; It's Snowing
Wins: just plain awesome

Diagon Alley
Sounds like: various genres (maybe hot jazz?)
Songs: Books of Magic; Gringotts
Wins: use of violin

Draco and the Malfoys
Sounds like: indie rock, comedy/experimental
Songs: My Dad is Rich; Epilogue
Wins: most likely to turn into They Might Be Giants

Dungbombs Rock!
Sounds like: street punk, indie
Songs: Mister Minister; What's Coming Will Come
Wins: best raw, "local band" sound

Ginny and the Heartbreakers
Sounds like: indie
Songs: Voldie-who?; Hope This Christmas
Wins: fun yellow silliness

Gred and Forge
Sounds like: punk rawk
Songs: Insufferable Know-It-All Hermione Granger; Ginny Gets Around
Wins: if the Weasley twins actually existed and had a band, they would sound like this

Harry and the Potters
Sounds like: indie rock
Songs: Save Ginny Weasley; Dumbledore
Wins: use of the word "homogenous" as a lyric

Harry Potter and the Magic of Music
Sounds like: comedy, electronica
Songs: Perfect Blond Hair; The Greatest Halloween
Wins: best voice acting

Hogwarts
Sounds like: hardcore/symphonic metal
Songs: Aragog; In the Forbidden Forest
Wins: weaned me onto the hardcore metal genre

Hogwarts Trainwreck
Sounds like: classic rock, with some variation into other genres
Songs: Mollywobbles; Hormones Hit Hogwarts
Wins: sounds the most like the Beatles

Hollow Godric
Sounds like: indie, acoustic + woodwind, ballads
Songs: The Lonely Half-Giant; The Grim's Lament
Wins: discovering this band was totally worth not going to church that day

Into the Penseive
Sounds like: indie, acoustic rock, comedy
Songs: Portkey to Your Heart; Confessions of the Half-Blood Prince
Wins: songs that would actually exist (and be played on the radio) in the wizarding world

Lion's Mane
Sounds like: epic metal (that's what they're trying for anyway)
Songs: The Sword of Gryffindor; The Battle for Middle-Earth
Wins: over-the-top metalness

Lord of the Strings
Sounds like: acoustic rock, folk
Songs: Raiding Song; You Shall Not Pass
Wins: most fantasy love

Malfoy Manor
Sounds like: electronica, distinctive female vocals, character songs
Songs: Live Fast Die Young; Second Thoughts
Wins: straight-up the best character songs (alongside Split Seven Ways)

Marked As His Equal
Sounds like: Acoustic rock, folk
Songs: Face the Dragon; Wrock Show
Wins: I just like him, okay?

Ministry of Magic
Sounds like: electronica/techno, early 90's pop, strong vocals
Songs: Snape Vs. Snape; Old Enough to Die
Wins: every single song is pure, concentrated AWESOMENESS

My two most favored subjects . . . when I'm not complaining about everything.

So, as I've mentioned before, I'm listening to all my music in order. Yes, I'm still doing that. I'm doing it folder by folder, just moving down the list, and when I download some music that goes in a folder which I've already listened to, I add the stuff I've downloaded to the end of the playlist, so I'll get to it eventually.

I'd like to say I'm almost done. Because sort of, I am.

I decided that, to simplify things, I'd keep my wizard rock folder for last. And I'm listening to it now, which means that I've listened to everything else I have. But thanks to the downloading thing I mentioned above . . . I will probably never finish listening to the wizard rock folder. There's just so much wizard rock out there, and I'm woefully behind in my gathering endeavors. I'm trying to go down the complete band list on Wizrocklopedia, AND whenever Wizrocklopedia posts lists of new songs that have been put up. It's very time-consuming! (My consolation is that buying the albums is a good way to get all the songs I miss, and the ones they don't post online, so when I rip the cds I buy, it bulks up my collection nicely.) In fact, I should make it a goal to download some wizard rock every day. That will sort of help me keep up. I'll add that onto the "every day" list alongside "wash and moisturize my face" and "work out."

And speaking of working out, I haven't been to the gym in over a month! My first three weeks of deviance had good excuses, as I think I've mentioned, but then I just got lazy and confused and blase. And now it's that time of the month again. But I swear, as soon as it ends I'm marching my chubby emo butt down to that rec center and renewing my pass!

In music news, I'm just now listening to Draco & the Malfoy's new EP, Family, which is available through the Wizard Rock EP of the Month Club.

It is way awesome.

It's darker than their other releases. It's basically a Draco's-point-of-view runthrough of Deathly Hallows, in 8 parts and an epilogue. I'm not a music expert, so I can just say it's awesome. If you're familiar with their style, just imagine that, but more serious (less funny), and more awesome. The music is a little deeper and more complex than a lot of their earlier stuff.

Also, Track 8, VIII, for some reason is reminiscent of End of the Tour by They Might be Giants. I don't know if that's on purpose or not, but I'm just gonna guess that it is because it's so cool.

1. Band name: Merlin's Pants

Genre: Indie, Folk Rock, Melodramatic Wizard Rock

Location: SLC, Utah

Established: August 14, 2007

Website: merlinspants.com

2. First song released on Jan 1, 2008, titled, "Pink Equals Evil."
"Pink Equals Evil" is the only song we currently have recorded and released. We're working on recording others soon (titles "Poor Winky," "Die Tonight," "Myrtle's Song for Draco")

3. We might be the first SLC-based wizard rock band; as far as I can tell the other Utah-based bands are from Provo (Potter and the Lightning Bolts, Wizard Diary Library), and there's one from Logan (The Krups), but it's probable that I don't know about others.

4. No news articles or anything yet.

5. No live performances yet.

6. Our band includes Camilla Whitney, lyricist, cellist, and vocalist when necessary; Alyssa Bailey, composer, lyricist, violist, pianist, and backup vocalist; and Brynn Whitney, vocalist, composer, pianist, and ukeleist.

We are currently looking for more members.

It was late summer. Camilla found herself becoming more and more obsessed with wizard rock, downloading everything she could. But just listening to it wasn't enough. She found herself getting ideas. After reading Deathly Hallows, she had joked about writing a Harry Potter opera with her sister Brynn. Suddenly the idea didn't seem as laughable. So she came to a decision. She decided that she was going to act, not dream. Even if it didn't last, even if the project got abandoned six months later, at least she would have done something, instead of just sitting around thinking about it. On August 8, 2007, during her lunch break, she called her sister Alyssa and said, "Look, I don't really know how to do this so I'm just gonna say it. Do you want to start a wizard rock band?" They dragged Brynn into it too, of course, and a few days later decided on the name Merlin's Pants, simply because it was the only name they came up with that consistently made them laugh--and they came up with a lot of names. They immediately started writing songs. Busy schedules of work and school, as well as all living in different cities makes the work slow, but they get together when they can and have finally produced a recording.

Not really life goals, but . . .

This is the 1000th wizard rock song I have gotten my hands on! It's "Holiday Revenge" by The Moaning Myrtles.

This is the 1001 wrock song I got, just now. I think it's noteworthy. Hearing Marc Gunn sing wizard rock fills my little heart with joy. (also see the post in wizard_rock.)




*sigh* this is not quite the purple I was going for, but it's what came out . . .

My little stint with not being able to buy Jingle Spells led me to realize that I couldn't wait until "someday" to buy wizard rock, the way I do with all the other music I like. This stuff just isn't going to be available whenever I want it.

So today I've started to unleash the full force of the extra $500 or so that I have laying around in my bank account, completely free to be used for frivolous endeavors.

So far I've purchased 2 albums from Catchlove, 2 albums from Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls, one album from The Hermione Crookshanks Experience, and I'm about to buy one from Ministry of Magic.

I feel kinda strange spending so much money on myself at this time of year . . . but no one else is gonna buy me this stuff, and this is money that goes straight to the artists, not to recording labels and studios and agents and so on. So it's totally worth it. And if the stars align as such that I have money at the same time the albums are available, then who am I to argue with fate?

Oh, now I've also ordered the first two cds from The Whomping Willows, and preordered their their album.

Ladies and gentlemen, today I had the best idea ever.

I'd heard about, at some point, a massive art project that was going around, where hundreds of artists each took a chapter of a Harry Potter book and made an illustration for it, eventually culminating in a huge collaborative book of Harry Potter art.

Now take that concept . . . and apply it to wizard rock.

Just imagine.

A musical journey through the entire story of Harry Potter, spanning across seven immense albums, contributed to by hundreds of wrock bands worldwide.

Someone needs to email the DeGeorges about this, like, right now. They have the power to make this happen. Only they are capable of endeavoring this huge undertaking. It would start, of course, with a call for contributors posted on all the main wrock sites across the web—Wizrocklopedia, Real Wizard Rock, and so on. The bands are randomly assigned a chapter (or more, depending on the amount of contributors) from the first Harry Potter book. (Random assignment is a lot less messy than having everyone choose a chapter). Then a deadline is given. The book assignments can overlap, I just think it's good to make sure you have all of the first book covered and not, say, just bits and pieces of all the books all at once. That way you can at least release one complete album in some amount of time after the start of the project, and not be sitting around with 7 partially complete albums for ever and ever until someone finally picks up all the leftover chapters.

Of course I wouldn't blame them for not wanting to pick this up. It's insane. How would the proceeds be distributed, first of all? Just to make it easy you may as well say that all profit is to be given to a charity of choice (they do that a lot with their projects anyway). I'm not interested in the money, I just want the music. Just the idea of a set of albums like this. It goes beyond Nightfall in Middle Earth or The Inconsolable Secret (not to be mistaken, I have great respect for Glass Hammer, and Blind Guardian still remains one of my favorite bands). I'm just saying, wizard rock has gone beyond what literature has ever done in music before. There were bands who drew a lot from literature, there were single albums inspired by a single book, but there was never an entire genre of music formed because of it. And there has never been a massive collaboration of musical interpretation of a single story, like what I am proposing. It has to happen.

But if it doesn't happen, I won't be too upset. Like I said, it's insane. It's not a reasonable proposition. The fact is that I'm OCD enough that, given enough time, I'll just compile albums by myself, using extant wrock songs. It's probably possible. It would just take a lot of effort, having to download all that (working on it), listen to them all (getting there) and put them in diegetic chronological order (someday it will happen).

Noel and Trevor say that they will help me stalk down Andrew Taylor Johnson.

I was like, "Hey, does anyone know Andrew Taylor Johnson?"

Everyone, "No."

Trevor, "Who's Andrew Taylor Johnson?"

Me, "He's Harry Potter and the Lightning Bolts,"

Trevor, "Oh, right,"

Me, "Which is the only registered wizard rock band in Utah, and I feel like I should stalk him."

General consensus, stalking is fun.

1. I like stories and characters.
2. I like music.
3. I like art that reinterprets extant stuff.

The fact that wizard rock reinterprets stuff that I already liked, characters and stories I'm already familiar with, is really just a plus. It allows for multiple points of access.

To contrast with the Decemberists, just as an example which also fulfills the above criteria, I had to get over Colin's voice before I realized how awesome the Decemberists were. They didn't have an immediate point of access the way wizard rock gives you with Harry Potter. And this point of access allows me to get over what could be considered musical inferiority much more easily. (To be honest though, I have run across my fair share of wrock artists that I couldn't listen to because the music sucked just that much.)

I felt like I had more to say on this. Maybe I'm too succinct for my own good, but more likely I just forgot what else I was going to say.


Also, an Anacrusis has been written about my cousin. I figured it was only a matter of time :)