Welcome, fellow wizard rock nerds, to the Wizard Rock Six Month Report™ for July to December, 2020! Twice a year, I compile this chronological list and review-in-brief of all the awesome wizard rock music that has been released or rereleased in the past six months of the year. And hopping hippogriffs, what a six months we have had! There have been ongoing online wizard rock concerts organized by Brian Ross and Geekbeatradio and many others, the Wizrocklopedia has amped up its Music Archive and started a monthly creativity challenge as well as publishing tons of other great articles, the second Yes All Witches grant was awarded to Dots and Lines, and the community just generally was awesome!
And—of course!—there have been tons of amazing wizard rock releases and rereleases. More complete stats are on the way in the final part, but suffice it to say that in the past six months, there have been more than 70 new releases or rereleases of wizard rock! Also, I missed several releases in the inaugural installment of the Six Month Report back in July, so I’ll add those in at the beginning. If I missed anything, please let me know in the comments below—and tell us what your favorite songs were in the comments! This is the first part of three, so stay tuned for more next week! If you’d like, you can check out parts two and three.
OK wrockers. Ready? Without further ado, let’s jump in!
The Tracks
Stuff I missed from the first six months of the year:
Sometime in April: Boys Like Jason – “Save Ginny Weasley:” Soundcloud
The indie rock band Boys Like Jason covered the Harry and the Potters classic just for fun! It’s nothing remarkable, but it’s still a great interpretation of an immortal song!
April 19: Losing Lara – “James Potter Loves Garlic:” YouTube
Losing Lara released a demo on YouTube that delightfully made fun of the fact that lilies…are a type of garlic. You connect the dots!
June 11: Dots and Lines – “Dragons (Charlie’s Song):” Bandcamp | YouTube
This single by Dots and Lines later ended up on the 2020 Wizard Rock Sampler AND was covered by Ludo Bagman and the Trash as part of the Summer Wrock Cover Swap (see below)! It’s a wonderful parody of the traditional song “Barges” that evokes Charlie’s feelings about how awesome dragons are.
May 24: David Guerchon and Sylvain Suarez – “La Chanson du Choixpeau Magique, Harry Potter:” Spotify | YouTube
A vicious and witty rap battle between Hogwarts houses? In French? Heck yeah! This song is one of a series of fannish rap battles that this French duo did. The video has English subtitles, BTW.
OK then! Those are the tunes we missed from the first half of the year (and I can’t believe we did!!!). Now for the main event!
July 2: Slytherin-Dubs – “Dumbledore:” Bandcamp
Up-and-coming dubstep wrocker Slytherin-Dubs utilizes samples from the HP movies and other music in this bouncy tune, their third single this year! Get your riddim on, wrockers!
July 3: Various Artists – We’re Freakin’ Awesome: A Tribute to Draco and the Malfoys reissued album: Bandcamp
The Wizrocklopedia began its barrage of new Archive rereleases with this compilation, originally released in 2009 and featuring the likes of Lord Voldi and the Dark Marks, Swish and Flick, Hawthorn & Holly and a whole lot more! I reckon it’s time for a sequel, don’t you?
July 3: Shauna Carrick – “Where Do We Go from Here?:” Bandcamp | Bandcamp
This heartbreakingly beautiful single by Irish musician Shauna Carrick—her 2nd wizard rock release—addresses the question of the future of the HP fandom after JK Rowling has revealed herself to be a TERF. All the proceeds are donated to Transgender Equality Network Ireland, so get out there and buy it!
July 7: Moss Bliss – “A Flower and a Hufflepuff:” Bandcamp | Bandcamp
This haunting song, a collaboration between longtime filkers Moss Bliss and Karl-Johan Norén, tells the story of Cedric Diggory’s death in a moving way that reminds me of an old English ballad!
July 9: Various Artists – Songs About Books reissued album: Bandcamp
The Harry Potter Alliance reissued this 2015 compilation in early July! True to its title, it’s all songs that have something to do with books in the Harry Potter universe! There are so many great songs on this album–I’m so happy more people will finally get to hear it!
July 9: Slytherin – A Tale We’ll Tell of What Hath Been… album: Bandcamp | Spotify
This incredible debut album by atmospheric black metal band Slytherin (not to be confused with Slytherin-Dubs) is not to be missed. Utilizing powerful vocals and guitar as well as orchestral flourishes, it makes me wish for an entire metal soundtrack to the films!
July 13: Aminata – “Severus Snape is a Meanie:” Twitter
This debut song by young wrocker Aminata was released by her older sister (awesome writer and co-founder of Black Girls Create Bayana Davis) on Twitter—and, you know, it rules! PETITION FOR MORE WIZARD ROCK BY HER, PLEEEEAAASE!
July 17: The Owl Post – Nocturnes reissued EP: Bandcamp
On July 17, the ‘Pedia rereleased three old wrock EPs! First was Nocturnes by the Owl Post, originally from 2007. If you like garage rock, and clever parodies, this one’s for you!
July 17: The Remedial Potions – The Singles reissued EP: Bandcamp
Next up is The Singles by the Remedial Potions, a compilation of until-recently-thought-lost songs by this Maryland duo! They offer some incredible piano-driven songwriting in a variety of styles!
July 17: Nearly Headless Nick – The Electrowrock Singles reissued EP: Bandcamp
Finally, all three songs by electrowrocker Nearly Headless Nick were rereleased on July 17. Building his songs around HP movie samples and wrocking electronic music, Nick will get you bopping in no time!
July 18: ElderWand – i solemnly swear that i am up to no good EP: Bandcamp
Indiana hardcore punk band ElderWand burst onto the scene with this awesome EP! Stuffing 6 (!) songs into less than 3 minutes, this EP will get you headbanging on repeat in no time!
July 19: Josh Slunk – Sorting Hat EP: Bandcamp
On the heels of Devil’s Snare in June, Josh Slunk released another wrocking instrumental metal EP inspired by HP!
July 22: Totally Knuts – “Trans Wizard” on Trans and Nonbinary Kids Mix album: Bandcamp
Totally Knuts’ song “Trans Wizard” from their album Fresh, Spooky and Queer was included on this compilation of inspiring and fun songs for trans and nonbinary youth. It’s the only wizard rock song on the album, but the whole thing is a blast and supports a great cause!
July 24: Mary Lambert – “Dear Jo:” Bandcamp | iTunes | Spotify | YouTube
Singer-songwriter Mary Lambert (that’s right, that Mary Lambert, from “Same Love”) penned this poignant yet really hard-hitting tune about her feelings surrounding JKR’s TERFiness! Take that!
July 26: The Rotfang Conspiracy – The Time Has Come EP: Bandcamp | Spotify
This exciting debut EP by hardcore punk/metal band the Rotfang Conspiracy deftly moves from social commentary to nuanced character depictions—and wrocks out super hard while doing it!
July 28: Aguamenti – “JKR Freestyle:” Bandcamp
Your friendly neighborhood nonbinary wizard rapper freestyles quite impressively about JKR’s TERFiness and the fandom’s reaction. They include some clever HP references!
July 31: Kathryn Hoss – Hufflepuffs Make Better Lovers album: iTunes | Spotify | YouTube
This debut album by exciting new talent Kathryn Hoss encompasses folk, electropop, rock and more in a polished and clever package! This album’s just pure fun, with social commentary mixed in skillfully as well!
July 31: Dan Cantrell – deathday music EP: Bandcamp
This instrumental EP imagines what the band at Nearly Headless Nick’s Deathday party would have sounded like! Dan Cantrell literally uses a musical saw orchestra on these songs, y’all. It’s phantastic! (Also, it’s the second wrock EP this year to use all lowercase letters in its title…HMMMMMM)
August 1: Josh Slunk – Unicorn Blood EP: Bandcamp
The third installment in Josh Slunk’s trilogy of instrumental wizard metal EPs does not disappoint! Hope he does more wizard rock music in the future.
August 3: The Dumbledore’s Army Band – [a few reissued songs]: Bandcamp
I unexpectedly managed to dig up three more old songs by the Dumbledore’s Army Band: studio and alt versions of songs from their Live at Sonorus EP, already on the ‘Pedia archive! I added them to the album on August 3.
August 7: Various Artists – Welcome to 2458: A Wizard Rock Compilation Inspired by Performances in Room 2458 reissued album: Bandcamp
This ‘Pedia rerelease is a 2008 album of songs inspired by a legendary wizard rock concert in a hotel room at Terminus 2008. So many amazing musicians and so many amazing songs! I’m looking forward to the day when another concert like this can happen.
August 7: Various Artists – Wrock Cover Swap (Summer): YouTube
Totally Knuts organized this remarkable project over the summer and compiled the submissions into a YouTube playlist. Wrockers were randomly assigned to cover another wrocker’s song—and they all did it brilliantly! The swap features contributions from How Airplanes Fly, Sonorus, Ashley Hamel and many, many more!
Wow everyone! So much amazing music! There’s a lot more where that came from–stay tuned for the second part next Sunday.
And if you read all the way to the end, we’ve got a surprise for you! To celebrate the amazing creations of the wrock community this year, we’re hosting a BandCamp gift card giveaway! Just comment on any one of these 6-month round up posts with your favorite release of the year. (One comment per person, please!) The winner will be announced on January 10, 2021. Happy listening and wrocking out!
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