pegkerr: (Wizard Rock)
I've created a wizard rock set list which adheres pretty closely to the plot of the seven books, book by book. I chose a variety of artists I particularly like, that have done a good job of dramatically presenting various scenes or just the feeling the books evoke, through their lyrics and music.

Here's how I'd tell the story of Harry Potter through Wizard Rock songs )

Your suggestions, additions, deletions? I'm probably relying most heavily on Riddle™ and Ministry of Magic, with a goodly dose of Harry and the Potters, Draco and the Malfoys, the Parselmouths, the Weasel King, the Remus Lupins, the Whomping Willows, and Oliver Boyd & the Remembralls.
pegkerr: (Wizard Rock)
Here's one of the songs ("House Song") on their new album which has just been released, Magic is Might. This one really made me laugh. Jason Munday of MoM and Alex Carpenter of the Remus Lupins are the Gryffs, Kristina Horner of The Parselmouths and John Noe of Potter cast are among the Slytherins, Luke Conard and Ryan Seiler (MoM) are the Ravenclaws, and Christian Caldera of Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls is the Hufflepuff. Order a hard copy of the album here or on iTunes here.



Here's another song on the album, 'Don't Leave' )

Jason Munday did an interesting little informative video about the process of composing that song:

How to write a MOM song )
pegkerr: (Wizard Rock)
I've had less wizard rock news lately, since MySpace (curses be upon them) have ceased offering music for free download.

Still, there are bits of news now and then: Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls is offering a couple of his songs for free download at his website. Download ‘In Your Shadow’ and ‘There By My Side’ by following the directions in his blog post.

Gred and Forge’s new album PitchesWitchesRiches will be released April 1st (Fred and George's birthday--how appropriate!), and is available for pre-order starting tomorrow. Check out his latest blog for details. (I really enjoyed his album Half the Band I Used to Be Listen to "Ginny Gets Around" at that MySpace page to hear a sample of one of the girls' favorite songs.)

I'm also keeping an eye on The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office Myspace page, as they should be releasing their album Hocus Pocus Opus soon. I've been waiting for this one for a long time. Ministry of Magic fans, check out their cover of Ministry of Magic's Snape vs. Snape/The Bravest Man I Ever Knew, which will be on this new release. I'm looking forward to this one.

As always, humor me and please comment if you listen and like.

what I did today to make the world a better place )
pegkerr: (Wizard Rock)
Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls has a new song available for free download:
There's a fanfic novel called James Potter and the Hall of Elders' Crossing. It was approved by JK Rowling, and it basically takes place 8 years after the end of Deathly Hallows.

There is now a youtube film series being made based on the book. The people doing the series approached me and asked if I'd be interesting in doing a song for it (much like I did for Erin Pyne's fanfic film, The Potter Prophecy).

I was hesitant at first, just because I already have a lot of songs to write (for the remaining EPs). So I told them I'd see if I could fit it in. Well, the very next day (yesterday) I had a few hours free during the afternoon, so I wrote and recorded a song.

Like I said, it's called 'In Your Shadow'. I haven't read the book, so all I was going on was that James feels like he lives in the shadow of his father.

Here's a link to the youtube series' website: http://www.wix.com/thehall/elderscrossingseries

And here are the lyrics to the tune )
I read a part of this fanfic novel that Christian mentions myself awhile ago; haven't finished it. But this song's lyrics can easily be understood as canon, too--you can easily see James (Harry's son) feeling this way. And, like all of Christian's work, it's a lovely song, well-produced. Recommended, and again, free for download (if you have a MySpace account).

As always, for my own curiosity, please comment if you listen and like. Thanks.

So. Portus

Jul. 16th, 2008 10:15 am
pegkerr: (Default)
It was wonderful. It was distinctly peculiar to be there without delivering a paper. But that gave me a little more freedom to attend panels myself. The programming was multi-track, so I wasn't able to see everything that caught my eye, but on the other hand, that meant that there was usually something interesting going on. One panel (on Severus Snape) was a disappointment. It turns out that none of the four panelists (all fans rather than primarily academics) had done much preliminary thinking or planning about the topic at all. They simply said, "Well! Let's talk about Snape." And then made no attempt to moderate the audience at all. I left after a half an hour of frustration.

I caught two of three of the panels that Barb Purdom ([livejournal.com profile] psychic_serpent) held, as well as Catherine Schaff-Stump's ([livejournal.com profile] awelkin) panel on Neville Longbottom. Professor Ed Kern continues to please, with interesting panels on postmodernism, and the King's Cross chapter in Deathly Hallows (the two of us got into a fun and lively debate as to whether the Potter books demonstrated Tolkien's concept of eucatastrophe or not; he thought they didn't, whereas I thought they did). I had a great talk with him at the small HPEF reception, where we discussed the influence, among other things, of Jane Austen's work on Rowling's writing. It is always a pleasure to speak with Ed.

It was so much fun to see so many of the people I've been corresponding with online for years. Met all the [livejournal.com profile] snapecast crew and sat through the live [livejournal.com profile] snapecast podcast. I spent time with [livejournal.com profile] flourish, and got really excited discussing the preliminary planning of a new RPG. And I finally (FINALLY!) got to meet [livejournal.com profile] moony! We met first on line when her Snape was tormenting my Neville when we were on [livejournal.com profile] nocturne_alley together.

We enjoyed Jim Dale's presentations hugely; he was SOOO delightful and funny. We heard his Saturday morning program, and then we were also at the special dessert event--I have pictures of him sitting next to the girls, which I hope to post later. We also attended the luncheon with Monique Trotter. Wish we could have attended the one with Dr. Henry Jenkins, but couldn't swing that one financially.

I caught a few of the acoustic wizard rock sets, but the highlight of the weekend for me was the ball. Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls was first up, and then Ministry of Magic. They were just as great live as I hoped they would be, and we had a great time being dancing fools. My hips are still hurting, days later, I danced so hard. So many people said to me afterwards, "OMG Peg, you were right about wizard rock! It's fabulous!" Which felt really good.

Both girls had a wonderful time, too. They bought stuff in the huckster's room, played Quidditch (and unfortunately, both as Seekers on opposite teams, managed to crash each other when chasing the snitch; Delia was icing her leg for a 1/2 hour afterwards). They made mosaics at the Smashing Times art event; they danced to wizard rock; they brainstormed RPG with [livejournal.com profile] flourish; they sang along to "The Mysterious Ticking Noise" with [livejournal.com profile] moony; they volunteered at the Common Room, they were everywhere. So many people were so kind and friendly to them (after reading about them for years in my journal) that they felt very welcomed.

[livejournal.com profile] bekkio and the rest of the Portus team, you did a wonderful job. Excellent conference.

It was really tough to come home. (And Rob, true to form, practically gave me a heart attack on each leg of the trip. On the trip out, he was so late from his interview that I feared we'd miss the plane. When we were ready to leave to come home, he realized at the last minute that his driver's license was missing, so we feared that we wouldn't be allowed on the plane. He finally found it in a frantic search through the sofa cushions in our hotel room.)

If you saw us (or have pictures!) leave a comment. Wasn't it fun?
pegkerr: (Wizard Rock)
Christian Caldera of Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls has announced he's going to coming out with four EPs, one for each Hogwarts House. The Slytherin EP has been released and you can get it by ordering from his MySpace page, or you can get it from him at Portus, since he's going to be playing there. Judging from the one song from it he's got up on his player, "Flight of the Prince," I'm planning on getting it. (I loved his previous CDs).

Geez, Mark Wischkaemper of Marked as His Equal has announced he won't be coming to Portus because he has cancer. His prognosis is excellent, however, but I'll be very sorry not to see him there.

The Parselmouths have announced they're working on a new album, and I think the amusing "Voldemort Fangirl" which is downloadable at their MySpace page, will be on it. They've been working with Ministry of Magic to record their album which is a good sign (they appeared on Ministry of Magic's "Goodbye Privet Drive," which is just as awesome as I knew it would be).
pegkerr: (Wizard Rock)
WHEN ARE WE GOING TO GET THIS ALBUM???

How does one adequately describe the awesomeness of Ministry of Magic collaborating with Christian Caldera of Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls?

You can't. You just have to go to the Ministry of Magic page and listen to the new track up tonight: "Forever Together." Enjoy.

As always, for my curiosity, comment if you listen and like. Do you think you'll buy the album when it comes out?
pegkerr: (Wizard Rock)
Here they are.

I agree with some (best song, "End of an Era," it's probably in my top five at least) disagree with others (best duo The Moaning Myrtles? Yeah, they're funny, but I prefer bands that can sing on pitch. RiddleTM sound vastly better to me.) I see The Parselmouths won Best EP for Illegal Love Potion, and that was a very good call, too. I thought Ministry of Magic's Triwizard Tournament would win for best album, but that award went to The Remus Lupins' I Was a Teenage Werewolf. Ministry of Magic did pick up some other awards, so it's all cool.
pegkerr: (Wizard Rock)
Jace of Catchlove and Christian of Oliver Boyd & the Remembralls have teamed up as the duo Talons & Tea Leaves. I just dropped Jace an email asking about the whereabouts of a CD I'd ordered from him, and I mentioned in passing that I was hoping that they'd make the Talons & Tea Leaves song "Hallelujah" downloadable. He was a little embarrassed about the CD being late, and so just because I asked, he made all the songs on the Talons & Tea Leaves page downloadable. Hurrah.

Grab them.
pegkerr: (Wizard Rock)
Apparently Christian Caldeira of Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls has an alter ego. He has created another MySpace page for a different band called Edgar & the Family Bones, which he describes as "Experimental / Neo-soul / Trip Hop" and "sounds slightly sinister." You can download his definitely creepy song "Such He Was Made," about Tom Riddle. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this page to see if he posts anything else. You'll note that he has a YouTube video for a different song there, "The Last Day of Bones," although that song is no longer available for free download on the MySpace page.

Once again, if you listen to the song and like it, I'd appreciate it if you'd comment to let me know. I'd like to know if people continue to be interested in my posts about wizard rock.
pegkerr: (Wizard Rock)
Two songs available for free download on Catchlove's supplemental page: "Sibyll Trelawney" (which is a parody of "Eleanor Rigby") and "The Lonely Life of Sir Nick."

Pretty good stuff. Catchlove is one part of the two-musician duo Talons and Tealeaves, the other member is Christian of Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls.
pegkerr: (Wizard Rock)
I've had a LOT of people asking lately, so . . . here's a quick intro to Wizard Rock.

General information can be found at these sites:

1. Wizrocklopedia.com (syndicated at [livejournal.com profile] wizrocklopedia)

Here's the list of Wizard Rock bands (all hyperlinked to their various webpages) at wizrocklopedia

Here's wizrocklopedia's Beginner's Guide to Wizard Rock.

2. wizardrock.org (syndicated at [livejournal.com profile] wizardrock_org)

I keep an eye on these two sites because they'll announce which bands have released new downloads or CDs and I can check them out.

There are several podcasts that follow the wizard rock scene, although I haven't checked them out myself: WRock Club (which is put out by Wizrocklopedia), WZRD (your Wizard Rock station), The Podcast of Awesome, and Alley Cast. You can subscribe at iTunes.

I certainly don't download everything--there are a lot of bands that are really REALLY bad. But there are enough that are good--even excellent--that I keep an eye out. If you were interested in checking out the Wizard Rock scene, and want to start a modest little Wizard Rock playlist without spending a lot of money, here's what I'd suggest to give you a sample of a number of bands and songs that I enjoy )

That's it! I'd say my favorites right now are Oliver Boyd & The Remembralls, Ministry of Magic, Harry and the Potters (particularly their later stuff), Draco and the Malfoys, the Remus Lupins and the Whomping Willows. Tell me if you find anything you like (esp. "End of an Era.")
pegkerr: (Wizard Rock)
Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls. I have downloaded as .mp3 his first album and I am enjoying it to a truly absurd degree. Yes, I am that much of a geek. You can buy it, too, here at Soundclick. The band consists of one person: he does all parts of the music and singing himself.

Here's his MySpace page, where you can listen to more samples of his forthcoming album.

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