Coming to you in living color, from the heart of the global communications network to the darkest recesses of your imagination — this is the Popdose Conceptual Theater of the Airwaves.

Pull down the screen inside your head. Open your ears.

Are you comfortable? Then let’s begin.

Close your eyes…

And watch….

Ahem. Ahem. Hello-o-o, children. Wands away, sit up straight, and let’s begin with our, shall we say, theoretical musical response to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

All of the Potter books partake of a certain amount of adolescent angst, but Order, I think, is the most adolescent, and the angstiest. Which made it a lot of fun to soundtrack; the pastoral English coziness of the earlier books fades, and their grimy rock n’ roll heart — their teenaged surliness and rebellion — come to the fore.

It’s not art, but it’s got a good beat. So if you don’t mind, let’s plow ahead with a minimum of explanation, shall we? A few terse keywords. File cards, really. Questions, comments, and requests for clarification will be answered in the comments; for now, turn it up loud like the snotty teenaged wizard you are…

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (1:22:11)

PLAYLIST

Conceptual Theater intro bumper

Sweet Suburbia (edit) — The Skids
Little Whinging in the summertime.

D-D-D-D-Dementia — The Blood Arm

Slip Inside This House — Oneida
Number 12, Grimmauld Place. This is a cover of a 1968 psychedelic classic by The 13th Floor Elevators.

Cry Mercy, Judge — Tom Verlaine
Disciplinary hearing at the Ministry of Magic.

Loco Girl — Chris Whitley
In which we are introduced to one Luna Lovegood.

The Headmaster Ritual — The Smiths

Behave — Charlotte Hatherley

Teenage Torturechamber — Strawberry Slaughterhouse

Leave a Scar — Marilyn Manson
Occlumency lessons.

Black Horses — Arto TunÁ§boyacıyan with Ara Dinkjian
Something appropriately alien, for the thestrals.

My Kind of Soldier — Guided By Voices
Dumbledore’s Army.

Fight Fire With Fire — Kansas

When We Were Boys At School — Richard Thompson
Snape’s worst memory.

Gigantic — Pixies
And this one is for Grawp.

Lead a Normal Life — Peter Gabriel
St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries — specifically, the fourth-floor residential ward.

I Remember Me — The Innocence Mission
Gilderoy Lockhart (slight return).

Centaur — Hex
Firenze joins the faculty.

The Mystery Zone — Spoon
The Department of Mysteries.

Black Dog — Led Zeppelin

Abra Cadaver — The Hives

Sirius — The Alan Parsons Project

Torn Curtain — Television
Sirius ventures beyond the Veil…

Death and All His Friends — Coldplay
…from which no man returneth.

Conceptual Theater outro bumper

Thanks for listening. In two weeks’ time, a little something different as Zack Dennis tackles a nonfiction classic from the Age of Nixon. In four, I’ll be back to apply my signature treatment to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Until then, keep your ears open, and don’t believe everything you see.

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About the Author

Jack Feerick

Critic at Large

Jack Feerick — editor, proofreader, freelance know-it-all, and three-time Jeopardy! champion — lives with his family somewhere in upstate New York, where he plays in a rock 'n' roll band and occasionally runs his mouth on local radio. You can listen to more of his work on Soundcloud, if you like.

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