oh wait, I'm a rockstar. and not just any rockstar. I'm a wizard rock rockstar.
At paloma's request, I am putting together a wizard rock post. \m/
The Whomping Willows
I'm sure I've gushed about them to a few of you. And by them I mean Matt Maggiacomo. He rocks the acoustic guitar, and by that I mean he definitely has talent. And he's one of the ones who sticks to his "character", should the band be named after a character. Matt is simply the body that Dumbledore chose for Whompy to rock out in. Whomping Willows = fun and at times really freakin adorable.
mp3s at the myspace linked above (and the supplement which he links to on his page).
A couple videos:
an ode to treebeard.
he's disappointed with dumbledore's choice of host body.
Additionally:
The House of Awesome is a new house I created after Dumbledore told me I couldn't join Hufflepuff. Anyone can be part of the HOA -- the only requirement is that you be awesome!
I will be sporting a House of Awesome pin (that I made) tonight. And for always. And you should listen to "House Of Awesome Theme Song" on his page so that you understand. Pure awesome.
The Remus Lupins.
One of the best wizard rock bands, in my opinion. Alex Carpenter has some real musical skill, but not in a you-must-take-me-seriously kind of way. Adorable, with a great sense of humor. Possibly one of my few boy crushes (in that vague don't really know them type way) if you can believe it. To quote The Whomping Willows: "[Matt's] not as cute as Alex Carpenter, but then again who is?" But, back to the music:
Remus Lupin loves doing two things. Well. More than 2 things. But primarily two things. Fighting Evil. And Reading Books. He is very good at both of them. Picture this: A library, a timeturner, a deserted 12 Grimmuald Place, a pensieve full of the order's memories and a young Remus searching for answers. The only answer: Rock. So, here are the songs from the Pensieve, the songs from Remus' mind, from every perspective, borne of these stored memories, and infused with werewolf energy.
streaming mp3s at the myspace linked above (and there's a supplement page from there), or you could listen at his website.
videos:
why did you give me chocolate, alex?
possibly my favorite wizard rock moment ever. whomping willows start singing a song about remus lupin, then alex shows up (in costume, of course), with an egg shaker, to act things out and dance around a little. awesome. and an illustration of the hilariousness and adorableness of them both.
Some other bands that I like:
The Moaning Myrtles
I'm always in favor of girls and pianos, as you know. On first listen, some of it was rather iffy, but then they replaced demos with the real songs, and that was a vast improvement. They mix in some jazzy cabaret with what is generally music of a more mass-appeal variety. In a good way. Still pretty low-fi, but they have a good sense of composition, and they have a few really awesome harmonies. I really like the combination of high and low voices (the band is comprised of Lauren and Nina).
The Hinky Punks
Self defined as punk / acoustic / emo. I'd emphasize the punk, with a dash of the others (enough to make it a softer version of punk). Not the best music out there (the quality of the songs vary greatly), but you can download a bunch of songs here.
The Parselmouths
It gets a little strange when they get into their techno place, but generally good fun. This band started in 2004 and consists of two Slytherin girls and one Slytherin boy, Brittany Vahlberg, Kristina Horner, and John Platter. The songs are in the point of view of these three; just Slytherin students going about their day to day business at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Although they hate Gryffindor students in general, Kristina and Brittany can't deny that Harry Potter is the hottest boy in school. John, however, has no opinion on the matter.
The Hermione Crookshanks Experience
experimental / rock / indie, apparently. I'd agree with that. There's certainly some synth going on, in various forms. Her voice (and music) are a little softer than I'm generally into, but enjoyable nonetheless. She says one her influences is The New Pornagraphers, and that makes total sense. Picture them, but lighter.
How Airplanes Fly
Incredibly awesome name, am I right? Or maybe some of us are just a little too into the books (guilty as charged). Songs range from definitely rock to really mellow acoustic. Some of the instrumentation is odd (the horn on "To Fall In Love" especially), but generally it's pretty awesome music. Yet another band that actually one person, by the name of Abbey. Her voice is remarkably low, in a particularly awesome way.
The Hungarian Horntails
Dude, this kid is eight years old. He's accompanied by his brother and friend, who are in the same age range (read: young). As you could probably guess, it's not exactly amazing music. But it's pretty awesome, considering. They're a pretty big deal in the wizard rock community. I totally approve. You should look at the pictures.
Roonil Wazlib
Again, this name kicks ass. And the album name is Muggle Knitting Patterns. I love it. Love. Acoustic pop type songs. Also, awesome line: "some people call it stalking / I call it focused walking". She writes from a number of POVs. Fun music.
There are about a million more bands out there, many with some music that's well worth listening to. So here's what you do: at any one of these myspaces, the band's top friends will be more wizard rock bands (on the whole). When you pick on of those and go to their site, there will be another list. You can roam forever, it's that vast.
You could also go check out the Wizrocklopedia. The site is down at the moment, but you can check out the myspace. The Wizrocklopedia is the source for wizard rock news, interviews, galleries, editorials, essays, downloads, and more. A plethora of info and media.
I ripped some of the songs, and I might put up the ones from the first three bands I listed (The Whomping Willows, The Remus Lupins, The Moaning Myrtles) at some point, if you're interested. Support these people (whether you buy albums or not), for they're indie in the very literal way. And how could you not love a movement that's all about rocking, and promoting reading? As The Remus Lupins say (even on his amp), "Fight Evil. Read Books."
And that's that.
(T-MINUS THREE AND A HALF HOURS.)
The Whomping Willows
I'm sure I've gushed about them to a few of you. And by them I mean Matt Maggiacomo. He rocks the acoustic guitar, and by that I mean he definitely has talent. And he's one of the ones who sticks to his "character", should the band be named after a character. Matt is simply the body that Dumbledore chose for Whompy to rock out in. Whomping Willows = fun and at times really freakin adorable.
mp3s at the myspace linked above (and the supplement which he links to on his page).
A couple videos:
an ode to treebeard.
he's disappointed with dumbledore's choice of host body.
Additionally:
The House of Awesome is a new house I created after Dumbledore told me I couldn't join Hufflepuff. Anyone can be part of the HOA -- the only requirement is that you be awesome!
I will be sporting a House of Awesome pin (that I made) tonight. And for always. And you should listen to "House Of Awesome Theme Song" on his page so that you understand. Pure awesome.
The Remus Lupins.
One of the best wizard rock bands, in my opinion. Alex Carpenter has some real musical skill, but not in a you-must-take-me-seriously kind of way. Adorable, with a great sense of humor. Possibly one of my few boy crushes (in that vague don't really know them type way) if you can believe it. To quote The Whomping Willows: "[Matt's] not as cute as Alex Carpenter, but then again who is?" But, back to the music:
Remus Lupin loves doing two things. Well. More than 2 things. But primarily two things. Fighting Evil. And Reading Books. He is very good at both of them. Picture this: A library, a timeturner, a deserted 12 Grimmuald Place, a pensieve full of the order's memories and a young Remus searching for answers. The only answer: Rock. So, here are the songs from the Pensieve, the songs from Remus' mind, from every perspective, borne of these stored memories, and infused with werewolf energy.
streaming mp3s at the myspace linked above (and there's a supplement page from there), or you could listen at his website.
videos:
why did you give me chocolate, alex?
possibly my favorite wizard rock moment ever. whomping willows start singing a song about remus lupin, then alex shows up (in costume, of course), with an egg shaker, to act things out and dance around a little. awesome. and an illustration of the hilariousness and adorableness of them both.
Some other bands that I like:
The Moaning Myrtles
I'm always in favor of girls and pianos, as you know. On first listen, some of it was rather iffy, but then they replaced demos with the real songs, and that was a vast improvement. They mix in some jazzy cabaret with what is generally music of a more mass-appeal variety. In a good way. Still pretty low-fi, but they have a good sense of composition, and they have a few really awesome harmonies. I really like the combination of high and low voices (the band is comprised of Lauren and Nina).
The Hinky Punks
Self defined as punk / acoustic / emo. I'd emphasize the punk, with a dash of the others (enough to make it a softer version of punk). Not the best music out there (the quality of the songs vary greatly), but you can download a bunch of songs here.
The Parselmouths
It gets a little strange when they get into their techno place, but generally good fun. This band started in 2004 and consists of two Slytherin girls and one Slytherin boy, Brittany Vahlberg, Kristina Horner, and John Platter. The songs are in the point of view of these three; just Slytherin students going about their day to day business at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Although they hate Gryffindor students in general, Kristina and Brittany can't deny that Harry Potter is the hottest boy in school. John, however, has no opinion on the matter.
The Hermione Crookshanks Experience
experimental / rock / indie, apparently. I'd agree with that. There's certainly some synth going on, in various forms. Her voice (and music) are a little softer than I'm generally into, but enjoyable nonetheless. She says one her influences is The New Pornagraphers, and that makes total sense. Picture them, but lighter.
How Airplanes Fly
Incredibly awesome name, am I right? Or maybe some of us are just a little too into the books (guilty as charged). Songs range from definitely rock to really mellow acoustic. Some of the instrumentation is odd (the horn on "To Fall In Love" especially), but generally it's pretty awesome music. Yet another band that actually one person, by the name of Abbey. Her voice is remarkably low, in a particularly awesome way.
The Hungarian Horntails
Dude, this kid is eight years old. He's accompanied by his brother and friend, who are in the same age range (read: young). As you could probably guess, it's not exactly amazing music. But it's pretty awesome, considering. They're a pretty big deal in the wizard rock community. I totally approve. You should look at the pictures.
Roonil Wazlib
Again, this name kicks ass. And the album name is Muggle Knitting Patterns. I love it. Love. Acoustic pop type songs. Also, awesome line: "some people call it stalking / I call it focused walking". She writes from a number of POVs. Fun music.
There are about a million more bands out there, many with some music that's well worth listening to. So here's what you do: at any one of these myspaces, the band's top friends will be more wizard rock bands (on the whole). When you pick on of those and go to their site, there will be another list. You can roam forever, it's that vast.
You could also go check out the Wizrocklopedia. The site is down at the moment, but you can check out the myspace. The Wizrocklopedia is the source for wizard rock news, interviews, galleries, editorials, essays, downloads, and more. A plethora of info and media.
I ripped some of the songs, and I might put up the ones from the first three bands I listed (The Whomping Willows, The Remus Lupins, The Moaning Myrtles) at some point, if you're interested. Support these people (whether you buy albums or not), for they're indie in the very literal way. And how could you not love a movement that's all about rocking, and promoting reading? As The Remus Lupins say (even on his amp), "Fight Evil. Read Books."
And that's that.
(T-MINUS THREE AND A HALF HOURS.)