The Weekly Kidcore Find: Wizard Rock or WizardCore

So, not so much a band this week, more like a movement.  As we all know, over the years musical genres get broken down into ever more specific sub-genres. More recently we have seen this happen at an almost absurd level with the genre labeled "emo" (which is itself a sub-genre of alternative rock which is a sub-genre of rock) with the creation of "screamo", "extremo", "emo-core", "emo-pop" + "emo-folk"...plus many more, most of which are as ridiculous as this preceding list.

With this series of posts based on the relatively new phenomenon of "kidcore", we thought we'd also explore what could be considered the first of many sub-genres to come: "WizardCore" or "Wizard Rock".

Mainly (and by "mainly", we mean all) focused on the popular series of Harry Potter books by JK Rowling, the bands all carry names found within the pages of those works and explore themes of magic, love, evil and the land of Hogwarts....and of course wizards and witches.

While it may seem logical that this music might sound childish and underdeveloped, it is actually quite the opposite. These bands range in musical genre from electronic to metal to garage rock to straight indie rock, but they are all super-talented and good at writing songs...even if they are songs about Harry Potter.

Here is a list, by no means a complete one, of the bands that make up this burgeoning scene and links to their individual MySpace pages so that you can take a listen for yourself:

Harry and the Potters
Draco and the Malfoys
the Hungarian Horntails
the Remus Lupins
Remus and the Lupins
Roonil Wazlib
the Parselmouths
Ginny and the Heartbreakers
the Fleur Delacours
the Marauders
Voldemort

As a testament to the growing popularity of this sub-genre, there is already a MySpace group (with 2212 members!!) and an "EP of the month club"

So, take a listen, you may be surprised.

UPDATE: Thanks to reader Ashe for the following:

There's also a charitable aspect to the genre, though... One of the main concepts behind the movement is to promote literacy through music. Proceeds from the CDs in the EP of the Month Club are going to First Book, which provides children from low-income families with books.

Thanks for the info, Ashe!!!

Comments

[Ashe]

Awesome article! :D

There's also a charitable aspect to the genre, though... One of the main concepts behind the movement is to promote literacy through music.
Proceeds from the CDs in the EP of the Month Club are going to First Book, which provides children from low-income families with books.

Rock on!!