Dear Mr. Potter

This is so terribly belated, I knoooooow! Sorry, dear listeners! (My computer crashed. Sympathy plz?) But finally, we present to you our special episode devoted to Dear Mr. Potter, the book that collected fan letters written to the characters who changed their lives—Harry, Ginny, Hermione, Ron, Luna and the others. In the episode we read a few of the letters, talk about role that HP and the fan culture has played in our own lives, and play some sweet meta-wrock (that is, wizard rock about wizard rock and wizard culture!) Speaking of which....

Season 4 - Episode 7 - Dear Mr. Potter

"The Leaky Con Theme Song" by the House of Black & Swish and Flick
"Potter Addict" by the House of Black
"Wizard Rock Heart Throb" by the Whomping Willows
"I'm Bringin' Sneakoscopes" by the Sneakoscopes
"Wizard Rock Twist" by the Remus Lupins
"This is Never Going to End" by the Parselmouths
"Post Potter Depression" by Lauren Fairweather
"Rock with a W" by Buckbeak's Flight
"Big Magic Wreggae Party" by Mimbulus Mimbletonia
"For Jo" by RiddleTM
"Open Letter to the Entire Wizarding Community" by the Whomping Willows
"Wrock Fan Girl" by the House of Black
"My Parents are Muggles" by Seen and Unforeseen
"Like It's Quidditch" by the Station
"Book 6 Made Me Cry" by Danny Dementor
"Bring Back Richard Harris" by Harry Potter and the Magic of Music
"Needlessly Complicated" by the Butterbeer Experience
"House Song" by Ministry of Magic

End of an era (or is it?)

We're back for another season!!!! Yay yay yay wizard rock! Wizard rock forever!

The Witching Hour has loads of new music, stories, and more to share with you, dear listener. We'll be talking about Pottermore, reviewing Deathly Hallows part 2, airing our interview with Harry and the Potters, and hopefully getting into some super sweet discussions about the Potterverse, as usual.

This week we answer Oliver Boyd's song "End of an Era" with a resounding "Hey, no it's not!" Sure, things are changing, some aspects of wizard culture are changing, but it's not the end, not yet. But we still love the song.



So without further ado, the first episode of our FOURTH season:

Season 4 - Episode 1 - End of an era (or is it?)

"Harry Potter and the Remix of Death" by Mike Relm

"End of an Era" by Oliver Boyd & the Rememberalls

"Wizard Party Forever!!!" by the Whomping Willows

"A Phoenix Lament" & "Epilogue" by Ministry of Magic

"This is Never Going to End" by the Parselmouths

"The End" by the Remus Lupins

"When the Lights Go Out" by the Whomping Willows

"Post Potter Depression" by Lauren Fairweather

"Into the Night" by Ministry of Magic

"Hallelujah (The Boy That Lived)" by Talons & Tea Leaves

"Save Ginny Weasley from the House of Awesome" by Oliver Boyd & the Rememberalls

"My Dad is Rich" by Draco and the Malfoys

"The Firebolt (2010)" by Harry and the Potters

"House Elft 4 Life" by MC Kreacher

"Underwater" by the Giant Squidstravaganza

"Prefects are Hot" by the Moaning Myrtles

"For Those Who Are Desperate For Those Who Are Lost For Those Who Have Acne" by Bella's Love

"Problem Solving Skillz" by Harry and the Potters

"Insufferable Know-it-all Hermione Granger" by Gred and Forge

"Caught in your Devil's Snare" by Into the Pensieve

"Expelliarmus Kid" by Peeved

"Your Flying Car" by the Whomping Willows

"Whatever You Like" by DJ Ronald B

"The Weapon" by Harry and the Potters

Wizhop, wizblues, wizard punk and more: TWH summer mixtape, vol. 2

This month's mixtape is all about re-thinking wizard rock. The movie may be out but this is not the end! We've got some great wiz hop (formerly referred to as wrap—we picked this new and improved term up from Joe DeGeorge) as well as new wrock wrenditions, some recent releases and updates on old favorites by the likes of Draco and the Malfoys and Harry and the Potters.

You can download the mixtape here.

Enjoy the tracks!

"House Elf 4 Life" by MC Kreacher
"Broomsticks and Apparations" by Fawkes
"B.Y.O.W" by Danny Dementor
"Like a Horcrux" (artist unknown)
"We R Lightning Scars" by Alex Carpenter feat. Kri$tina
"Occlumency Lessons" by the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office
"Alohomora" by Pogo
"Party All Night" by the Whomping Willows
"Pixie Funk" by the Blibbering Humdingers
"The Firebolt (2010 version)" by Harry and the Potters
"My Dad is Rich" by Draco and the Malfoys
"The Art of Parseltongue" by Hawthorne and Holly
"Worth Fighting For" by the Butterbeer Experience
"Angsty Wizard Summer" by Bella's Love
"Hallows" by Andy with an M
"Hallelujah (The Boy Who Lived)" by Talons & Tea Leaves

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2

So, dear listeners, what did you think of the final film? There's a million different reviews out there—from Rotten Tomatoes calling it "97% certified fresh" to Slate's hilarious "Harry Potter Virgins" piece to Ralph Fiennes' Guardian-published defense of ole Voldie as "just lonely" and Wired's take on the "5 Characters who Overshadowed Harry" (well Snape, duh).

But what did you think? And almost as importantly, did you dress up?? We'd love to hear your comments here or on our Facebook page.

Although the ladies of The Witching Hour were all apart—Mehera in Seattle, Claire in Portland and Sara in Walla Walla—we did our best to keep the show's spirit alive wherever we were. We don't want to give away too much now, but you'll certainly get our opinion of the last film when we're back on air this fall.

Here's a peek of how we celebrated Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow, Part 2:

Wrockin' through July: TWH summer mixtape, vol. 1

Here's another exciting summer update:

We will be releasing two summer mixtapes of wrock. July's theme, is, of course, Deathly Hallows-themed. And August is all about brand new wrock, which will include some excellent MC Kreacher, Blibbering Humdingers, Fawkes and tons more!!

We meant to hype this a bit earlier but things got crazy, as they always do, and so it's without further ado that we present the first mixtape. It's especially designed to help you wrock out while in line for HP7p2. (Or any day, really.)

But srsly. Be sure to listen to this on Thursday. Tears will be shed. So. many. tears. But remember—that's not always a bad thing.

You can either download it here from MediaFire, here, or by subscribing to The Witching Hour podcast!

And the tracklist:

"End of an Era" by Oliver Boyd & the Rememberalls
"The Phoenix Lament" and "Epilogue" by Ministry of Magic
"Wizard Party Forever!!!" by the Whomping Willows
"Marauders Forever" by the Remus Lupins (in honor of the end of TRL's live performances)
"No Matter How Far (I'll Still Love You)" by Talons & Tea Leaves
"Penelope" by the Hermione Crookshanks Experience
"Ballad of Ron and Hermione" by RiddleTM
"Needlessly Complicated" by the Butterbeer Experience
"Sacrifice" by Stephanie and the Quaffles
"When the Lights Go Out" by the Whomping Willows

Love,
Mehera, Sara & Claire


Look for the second mixtape in mid-August. When our podcasting software decides to work again, we'll have the last show of season 3 and the Harry and the Potters interview for you, too. Then, before you know it, we'll be back in September. It's just like magic!

The Remus Lupins to perform their final show

Dear listeners, it is with heavy hearts that we announce to you that this Thursday, July 15—the premiere of Deathly Hallows Part 2—will also be the final performance date for the Remus Lupins.

Sara learned this from a Facebook status of Alex Carpenter... and with a bit more digging came across a newly-created Remus Lupins tumblr which details the decision and the future of the band. You can read more there, but here's an excerpt from the post Alex wrote:

In my younger and more vulnerable years, I learned a lesson that I have been turning over in my head ever since. I was told that “All Good Things Must Come to an End” It has always had a melancholy charm to me, the fact that the most important things in our lives are defined by their inherent temporariness. It is knowing that something will eventually end that gives things enhanced meaning, it is the constant comprehension that the moments that we live in need to be appreciated because they will not last forever that makes them powerful. As incredible of the concept as forever is, I think that knowing that an extraordinary experience is finite makes it far more special.

If you'll be at LeakyCon 2011, that's where it will be, so definitely don't miss out. And if you won't, be sure to celebrate TRL with a song or two.

It's a sad moment for a wizard rock radio show like ours because, with the conclusion of the film series, this could be the beginning of the end for many wrock bands. The future is certainly a foggy one, and Alex has a point... all good things do eventually come to an end.

Well, The Witching Hour has this to say to you, Alex: the shows may end but our CDs will be played till they wear out.... and then we'll buy new ones from you online!