Making Home Affordable Program Hasn’t Helped Enough, Some Say
(CNN) -- When President Obama unveiled the Making Home Affordable Program in March, he said it would help "responsible folks who have been making their payments" reduce their monthly mortgage bills and avoid losing their homes to foreclosure.
More on Housing Crisis
Iran prisoner beaten to death, coroner says
A coroner's report says that a man arrested in the violent aftermath of Iran's presidential elections died from beatings, Iranian media reported Monday in what appeared to be the first official confirmation of a detainee's death from mistreatment.Arianna Huffington: Has Obama’s Handling of the Bank Bailout Undermined Health Care Reform?
Given the media's ADD, I imagine the discussion on health care will quickly revert to where it was before Ted Kennedy's death -- filled with chatter about the Gang of Six's latest pronouncements, and whether there are or aren't death panels in the House bill.
But before we move on to the minutiae and the moronic, let's do some big picture stocktaking, using the valuable perspective last week's look back at Kennedy's career and speeches provided.
This weekend, Sam Tanenhaus, the senior editor at the New York Times Book Review, wrote that Kennedy's passing brought to an end a vision of liberalism that "holds that the forces of government should be marshaled to improve conditions for the greatest possible number of Americans, with particular emphasis on the excluded and disadvantaged."
But shouldn't the vision of marshaling forces to improve conditions for the greatest possible number of Americans be the appropriate goal for any civilized society? We can argue about what precisely should be the proper balance between government, the private sector, and philanthropy. But is there any doubt that this goal is what our political discourse should revolve around?
After all, the vision of improving conditions for the greatest possible number of Americans is not the exclusive province of liberalism. And because it is the ultimate goal of society, it is about right versus wrong, rather than right versus left.
Looking at the last nine months through this perspective, it's hard to understand many of the decisions the Obama administration has made. Has improving conditions for the greatest possible number of Americans really been its goal? If not, why not? And if yes, what a funny way to go about it!
Take the bank bailouts. The dust is finally beginning to settle on that front, and what we are seeing doesn't bode well for the ongoing health care fight.
Two days after Senator Kennedy's death, and thus not given much attention, there was a shocking piece in the Washington Post about how America's "too-big-to-fail" banks have gotten even bigger since the meltdown. Four banks (Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Citi) now issue 50 percent of America's mortgages and control two-thirds of the nation's credit cards. According to FDIC chair Sheila Blair, this kind of consolidation of power "fed the crisis, and it has gotten worse because of the crisis."
And the consolidation isn't over. As WaPo's David Cho points out, these mega-banks now get even more favorable treatment from creditors because the creditors know the banks will be bailed out by taxpayers if they take on too much risk. This favorable treatment includes lower borrowing costs than other banks are able to get. This, in turn, will put even more of these smaller banks out of business, furthering the concentration of wealth and power. And Democrats are ceding the populist field of trust busting to Republicans.
Though the big four banks have all recently announced multi-billion profits (with a bottom line handsomely padded by all of us), three dozen smaller banks have gone under in the last two months.
As Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Economy.com puts it: "the oligopoly has tightened." Which is what oligopolies tend to do when left untended.
And what of those who are supposed to be tending the oligopoly? Here's Tim Geithner's rose-colored take:
Our system is not going to be significantly more concentrated than it is today. And it's important to remember that even now, our system remains much less concentrated and will continue to provide more choice for consumers and businesses than any other major economy in the world.
Is it me, or is Geithner starting to sound more and more like "Baghdad Bob," the absurdist Iraqi Information Minister who predicted that U.S. forces were going to surrender even as American tanks were rolling down the street outside his press conference?
So what can the bank bailout teach us about health care? Quite a bit. Unfortunately.
With the August recess ending, and Sen. Kennedy's funeral over, we resume a health care battle in which the administration has been surprised by the declining fortunes of its health care plan (to the extent that there is, in fact, an administration health care plan).
I am surprised by their surprise.
They are too smart not to know that actions have consequences. And one of the main consequences of the one-sided bailout of Wall Street is the way it has undermined public trust in government.
Rob Johnson, economist at the Economic Policy Institute, and former Chief Economist of the Senate Banking Committee, blogging on HuffPost, nailed it:
By refusing to stand up to the oligarchs and set proper boundaries in defense of society, they fed the cynics and dissipated the magic that Obama had created for real change. The administration seemed closer to Jamie (Dimon) and Goldman Sachs than to us. The lesson: if you fail to defend society once, people lose faith. The loss of faith carries a high price, and we're paying that price now in the arena of health care reform.
And yet the administration is shocked, shocked, that Americans aren't rallying behind its vague health care plan. They can try to blame it on Fox News or town hall crazies, but I hope they know that much of the health care anger is a proxy for bailout anger.
Americans feel it in their gut that the White House is treating the big business health care establishment the same way it handled the big business Wall Street establishment. The president seems to believe that what's good for Goldman Sachs and PhRMA is, ipso facto, good for the country. We keep hearing from the administration how its health care plan is good for "choice and competition." But we see how well "choice and competition" have fared in the financial sector.
I asked Elizabeth Warren, the Harvard Law professor tasked with chairing the Congressional Oversight Panel in charge of TARP, what worries her the most.
"My biggest concern is what's happening to the middle class," she told me. "The middle class has been the foundation of America in every way. It has been the key not just to economic prosperity but to political stability as well. But, brick by brick, the foundation that supports the middle class is being removed. At a certain point, it's going to collapse. And when it does, when the middle class crumbles, we are going to end up with such disparity between the haves and the have nots, that America will come to resemble Mexico or Colombia -- with the wealthy living behind walls, unsafe in their own country and protected by armed security guards while everyone else struggles on the outside."
Looking over the horizon, she warns: "If we don't learn from this crisis, we will be doomed to repeat it."
And if we don't learn from the very recent history of the bank bailout, we are in danger of getting the same patchwork, reform-in-name-only outcome on health care.
Using the litmus test of improving conditions for the greatest number of Americans, the bailout was a bust.
There is still a chance to save health care. But only if Obama takes control of the debate. Maybe spending the last few days surrounded by the impassioned spirit of Ted Kennedy will prod the president to push the reset button.
More on Health Care
National Security Adviser: Obama Having Greater Success Taking Terrorists Out of Commission Than Bush Did
Responding to criticism from former Vice President Cheney that President Obama is making the nation more vulnerable to terrorism, the president's National Security Adviser, Gen. Jim Jones (Ret.), told ABC News in an exclusive interview that actually the reverse is true: President Obama's greater success with international relations has meant more terrorists put out of commission.
More on Terrorism
Obama official disputes Cheney’s claims
Former Vice President Dick Cheney had his facts wrong when he blasted Attorney General Eric Holder last week for launching an investigation into past CIA interrogation techniques, an administration official asserted Monday.Tortuous September Ahead for Obama
Analysis: Issues Over Health Care, Afghanistan, Iran and Libya Ready to Confront PresidentPalin to Give Speech in Asia Next Month
Address in Hong Kong Will Be Her First Paid Speaking Engagement, Also Her First Trip to AsiaDems Frustrated By Obama’s Lack Of Clarity On Health Care
President Obama can still secure major health-care legislation this year if he learns from his mistakes in recent months and spends more time reminding Americans why they were once eager for fundamental change.
His White House lost sight of the need to make a strong case that reform would deliver specific benefits to the insured as well as the uninsured. Absent a consistent set of arguments from reformers, advocates of the status quo filled the vacuum -- often with outright lies.
More on Health Care
Michael Kaiser: The Remarkable Barney Simon
People across the nation have been asking me why I have embarked on my 50-state Arts in Crisis speaking tour. I always answer, truthfully, that I am concerned that so many arts organizations are making poor decisions as they attempt to cope with the current economic crisis. They are cutting programming first, rather than last, and sacrificing long-term revenue for short-term expense savings.
But there is a second, equally truthful, motivation for this tour, and for all of my national and international efforts to educate arts managers: Barney Simon.
Barney Simon was the founder and artistic director of the Market Theatre in Johannesburg, South Africa. He made the Market a place where white artists and black artists could work together. In a South Africa brutalized by apartheid, this was not simply a noble mission, it was an act of courage. Barney trained a generation of South African artists; virtually anyone working in South African theater today was influenced by Barney or one of his disciples.
For several decades, Barney produced and directed many of the most important works of indigenous South African theater. He was the first to direct the works of his good friend, Athol Fugard. He exported these plays across Europe and the United States. These works educated us about the horrors of apartheid and moved us to act.
It is not an overstatement to say that Barney Simon played a major role in the ending of apartheid.
I met Barney, ironically, just after the end of apartheid when Nelson Mandela was elected President of South Africa.
I worked with Barney to save his Market Theatre, which, of course, had never received a government subsidy during the era of apartheid and was entirely reliant on private donations, an oddity in South Africa. With the end of apartheid, most gifts that were required of foreign corporations doing business in South Africa were cancelled, putting the Market at risk.
While I was Barney's consultant, he taught me far more than I taught him. He taught me that I had a responsibility to use the arts for the good of people, not for self-aggrandizement. He taught me that the arts are a powerful weapon of change, and that we have an obligation to use this weapon wisely. He taught me that I had to widen my perspective on arts and take more artistic risk.
This is why I have devoted much of my life over the past ten years to teaching, to international exchange, and now to working with arts group struggling in this current economic environment. I do not have Barney's artistic talents, but he exhorted me to find a way to use what I know to help others.
Barney died, far too young, in 1995. But his spirit lives on and challenges me every day.
Mike Ragogna: Arctic Monkeys’ Humbug, This Week’s New Album Releases, That Noise Rocks The Good Hurt, plus Jimi Hendrix, Andy Warhol, Hafez Nazeri, Echospin, and Beijing’s White Updates
Looks like some Arctic Monkeys have been listening to Doors albums. And, reportedly, Jimi Hendrix riffs. After absorbing their new release Humbug's first track, "My Propeller," you immediately get the hypnotic, pseudo-psychedelic lay of the land for the rest of the album which turns out to be quite a trip. Virtually gone are all of these Sheffield boys' post-punk affectations which have no relevance to the universe 23-year-old Alex Turner's lyrics creates. At times, those stanzas and their partnered melodies sound borderline art house in comparison to past Monkeyshines, though nothing comes off particularly pompous as much as risky. These stream of consciousness songs sync nicely with the swirling oeuvre-production supplied by Queens Of The Stone Age's Joshe Homme and Simian Mobile Disco's James Ford, and the best example of the internals working as precisely as Sylar's old timepieces would be "Crying Lightning," the album's most alluring track and single/video. It vaguely has something to do with working class values and some twisted relationship involving a "sister of the strange, twisted and deranged"; but most likely, it's not, so don't get down with the minutiae. Just enjoy its production, lead vocals that eventually hit a great hook, group-harmonized title in the chorus, and those sinister bass and thin, wanton guitar licks. Its stormy watered video also is terrific (though the passing under the crotch shot was a weee bit uncomfortable), and it might as well serve as a metaphor about an ambitious ship of twenty-something KidBrits who cross perilous waters (to the U.S.?) for their third album outing after having delivered an exceptional debut and a louder but safe follow-up.
Other highlights include the Euroballad-turned-march "Secret Door" that skips through a minefield of verbal and musical syncopation, and the initially Strawbs-y "Pretty Visitors" with its delightful lyrics "Who came first, the chicken or the dickheads?" (although "Cornerstone"'s "I smelt your scent on the seat belt" is equally messed-up). "First And The Thud" might serve as another single if rock-radio embraced records that deviated from cookie-cutter concepts and Cookie Monster voicings. And one could proudly take a poke at "Dangerous Animals" for sporting obvious guitar effects and percussion ring-offs a la Duran Duran or ominous guitar chord patterns hailing from Crack The Sky's Pittsburg or Blue Oyster Cult's Long Island; plus the track gets two for flinching for its Hall & Oates-esque A-N-I-M-A-L and D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S wordplays.
It's refreshing that a young, promising group like Arctic Monkeys and its producers were smart enough to reinvent the brand before it got stale and formulaic, which this project absolutely is not. Though fans of Arctic Monkeys' early rockings and those enticed by the band's 2006 Saturday Night Live appearance with Matt Dillon probably are going to quote this album's title as their opinion of its content, they should be grateful Arctic Monkeys is taking its evolution seriously. And those who felt that this outing's Doors-ish prog wasn't their cup of THC are REALLY not going to be happy about the rumor that Alex Turner and Jamie Cook have been obsessing over Pink Floyd's Ummugumma (relax, just kidding...it was Animals...no, still kidding...).
Arctic Monkeys - Humbug
1 My Propeller
2 Crying Lightning
3 Dangerous Animals
4 Secret Door
5 Potion Approaching
6 Fire And The Thud
7 Cornerstone
8 Dance Little Liar
9 Pretty Visitors
10 The Jeweller's Hands
For all you adventure seekers, here is a dose of the Arctic Monkeys' video "Crying Lightning":
NOT YOUR FATHER'S PRESS RELEASES (okay, maybe a little):
***Jimi Hendrix's Legacy Comes To Legacy Recordings
Sony Music Entertainment and Experience Hendrix L.L.C. have agreed to a monumental catalog licensing deal to set the stage for a worldwide campaign to make all of Jimi's extraordinary music, including classics, never before heard archive recordings, and filmed concerts available through every type of media.
Legacy Recordings, Sony's catalog music division, will issue definitive deluxe editions of the classics released during Jimi's all too brief career including Grammy® Hall Of Fame Inductees Are You Experienced, Axis: Bold As Love, Electric Ladyland and (outside the US) Band of Gypsys. In addition, Legacy will also release those posthumous compilations produced by Experience Hendrix during its stewardship. Each title will also be available through major Digital Service Providers.
Dagger Records, Experience Hendrix's "official bootleg" division, now in its eleventh year, offers recordings that are of great historical significance. The company has also sponsored numerous Experience Hendrix tours that have showcased contemporary artists performing the music of Jimi Hendrix in concert to underscore the never ending vitality and inspiration of Hendrix's music. Participating artists on these tours have included Robert Randolph, Carlos Santana, Paul Rodgers, Buddy Guy, Jonny Lang, Eric Johnson, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, members of Pearl Jam, Aerosmith, The Doors, Los Lobos and many others. Details about the 2010 Experience Hendrix Tour will soon be revealed. This historic partnership will include Legacy's participation in Dagger Records, the Experience Hendrix tours and other Hendrix-related businesses.
"Jimi's legacy and vision were unique and there will never be another that reaches his unparalleled genius. He was the greatest guitarist ever," said Janie Hendrix, President and CEO of Experience Hendrix. "We are confident that our new relationship with Sony Music will honor my beloved brother's legacy and will deliver Jimi's special 'Message Of Love' across the globe. We look forward to the creative partnership and ground breaking releases that this new relationship will engender to bring Jimi's music to successive generations of fans."
"No artist has ever transformed the pop music landscape as profoundly or as permanently as Jimi Hendrix," said Adam Block, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Legacy Recordings. "We are proud to be partnering with Experience Hendrix, keeping the sound and spirit of Jimi's music alive for future generations around the world."
***Andy Warhol Presents Man On The Moon: The John Phillips Space Musical
Andy Warhol Presents Man On The Moon: The John Phillips' Space Musical says what the title implies--surrealism rendered through the marriage of high camp, deliberate tackiness and sly artistic concept (think of Warhol's Frankenstein and Dracula films). This collection features never-before-released songs written and performed by John Phillips from this long-lost off-Broadway musical which was originally produced by Andy, directed by Paul Morrissey (who also helmed the aforementioned films) as well as performances by Denny Doherty of The Mamas and The Papas and Factory superstars. Bonus tracks include live recordings of the first performance made on cassette by Andy sitting in the audience at the Little Theatre in 1975. This is the first and only time the Warhol estate has released any of the myriad cassette recordings Andy legendarily made continually.
The release is an enhanced CD that also contains video footage of a '74 rehearsal and an Adobe® file filled with the original playbill, extra photos, reviews, press clippings, early scripts and song orchestrations.
***Universal Music Group Distribution Partners With Echospin
(NOTE: THIS MIGHT BE VERY SIGNIFICANT, KEEP AN EYE ON OTHER LABELS' FUTURE USE OF ECHOSPIN)
Leading Technology Company to Power Direct-to-Fan Solutions For UMG's Roster of Chart-Topping Artists
Furthering its mandate to provide unique digital solutions that empower record labels and artists to easily sell and promote content directly to fans, Universal Music Group Distribution (UMGD), the award-winning sales, distribution and marketing division of Universal Music Group, the world's leading music company, has entered into an agreement with Echospin, a leading technology company. The announcement was made today by Jim Urie, President & CEO of UMGD, and Jon Lowy and Damian Manning, Co-Founders of Echospin.
As part of this agreement, UMGD's family of labels and chart-topping artists will utilize Echospin's innovative technologies to integrate direct-to-fan sales and promotions into their websites, allowing, for the first time, a major music company and its artists, across all genres, to sell digital, physical and mobile goods all in one location.
"Echospin has created a market leading commerce and media delivery platform that facilitates the sale and promotion of digital, physical and mobile products all in one shot," stated Mr. Urie. "It will provide our artists with unmatched opportunity and reach in the marketplace. As UMGD continues to expand and lead the industry in direct-to-fan initiatives, this agreement with Echospin will provide our artists and labels with more flexibility on how they distribute their music, while providing fans much easier access to a broad variety of content from the artists they are passionate about."
"UMGD is committed to building closer relationships between artists and their fans. We're thrilled they chose Echospin to be their partner in this unique opportunity," commented Mr. Lowy.
"It's exciting to see the world's leading artists using our solutions to provide fans with the effortless and rewarding experiences they deserve," added Mr. Manning.
An example of the diversity of product that this new platform enables is the 3 Doors Down "Ultimate Fan Pack," an Echospin-powered exclusive offer, which includes re-mastered CDs, a re-mastered vinyl LP, a poster, a special autographed "early entry pass," T-shirt and an instant download of the re-mastered "Kryptonite" MP3 single. Also upcoming are online stores and offers from Mariah Carey, Lady Gaga, Kid Cudi, Hollywood Undead, Mary J. Blige, Soulja Boy Tell 'Em, Julianne Hough and the Verve Music Group, which will include music and products from Diana Krall, Jamie Cullum, Queen Latifah, Katherine McPhee and Herbie Hancock, among others.
***Composer Hafez Nazeri To Premiere First Modern Iranian Instrument This Fall
Known for his innovative blend of Persian and Western musical styles, 30-year-old Iranian musician Hafez Nazeri has created a new instrument: the "Hafez." Named in honor of his own namesake - the great 13th century mystic poet - the "Hafez" extends the range of the sitar by incorporating two additional low strings, crafting greater melodic and harmonic range.
The "Hafez" allows Nazeri to express his musical philosophy, preserving the essence and elemental structures of Persian music, while embracing new ideas developed out of Western Classical music such as orchestration, harmony, rhythmic patterns and melodic forms.
The "Hafez" will make its U.S. debut during the 'Rumi Symphony Project: Cycle One' in LA October 3rd at the Pantages Theatre and in NYC November 14th at Carnegie Hall.
Alongside the new instrument, the concerts will showcase Nazeri on setar and vocals, and his legendary father Shahram Nazeri (vocals), as well as artists of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center: Paul Neubauer on the viola, Ida Kavafian, viola and Fred Sherry, cello; in addition to Matt Haimovitz, cello; Tim Cobb, double bass, Hussein Zahawy, percussion and Shane Shanahan, percussion.
***Beijing's White Debut
White is the self-titled debut album from one of the most talked about bands to emerge from the Beijing underground in recent years. Produced by Blixa Bargeld at Einstürzende Neubauten studios in Berlin, White is the starting point for a more widespread recognition of new music from China, and sets the benchmark for all others who follow. White is being released on the OpenNote label, distributed in the U.S. by Ryko.
Together, Shenggy (KORG MS-20, drums, percussion, sampler, vocals) and Shou Wang (guitar, organ, pedals, dome theremin, vocals) have conjured a sound - part electronic shimmer, part cosmic industrialism - that arrives like a nocturnal transmission, complete with advertisements and radio static, through a neon rain. The heartbeat of the band, beneath Shou Wang's delicately bowed loops and slashing atonal freak-outs, is Shenggy's KORG MS-20, generating everything from a seismic, murky techno pulse to Throbbing Gristle-esque waves of distortion, making for an album of contour and contrast, one moment gripped by suffocating paranoia, the next carefree and gloriously ebullient.
At 26, Shenggy is something of a veteran in the speed-of-light world of Beijing's underground. She spent seven years as the mainstay of combustible all-girl punkniks Hang on the Box, helping to steer them from their Oi! roots to the multi-layered urbane glamour of 2006's Shanghai. Shou Wang, three years Shenggy's junior, is the leader of Beijing power-trio Carsick Cars, rising stars in their own right after performances at All Tomorrow's Parties and support slots with Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr. As White, they have collaborated with the likes of FM3, Elliott Sharp, Alvin Curran and Manuel Göttsching.
***This Week's New Albums:
Alice Cooper - Killer
The Apples in Stereo - #1 Hits Explosion
Andrew W.K. - 55 Cadillac
Susana Baca - Seis Poemas
Sam Baker - Cotton
David Bazan - Curse Your Branches
The Black Crowes - Before the Frost ...
The Black Crowes - ... Until the Freeze - free with download code
Chevelle - Sci-Fi Crimes
Datarock - Red
CuCu Diamantes - CuCuland
Dr. Dre - The Chronic: Re-Lit
Drive-By Truckers - The Fine Print (A Collection of Oddities and Rarities) 2003-2008
Emerson, Lake & Palmer - The Essential Emerson, Lake & Palmer 3.0
Farewell - Run It Up the Flagpole
John Fogerty - The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again
Radney Foster and The Confessions - Revival
Frankel - Anonymity Is The New Fame
Robin Guthrie - Carousel
Heavy Young Heathens - Heavy Young Heathens
Whitney Houston - I Look to You
Insane Clown Posse - Bang! Pow! Boom!
Led Zeppelin - The Roots of Led Zeppelin (Various Artists)
Juliette Lewis - Terra Incognita
Richard Lloyd - The Jamie Neverts Story
The Lost Fingers - Lost in the 80s
MadLove - White With Foam
Marshall Tucker Band - The Essential Marshall Tucker Band 3.0
Motown - Motown 50 Fanthology
Ozzy Osbourne - The Essential Ozzy Osbourne 3.0
Pitbull - Rebelution
The Pretenders - The Pretenders (Gold CD)
Queen - Queen (vinyl)
Queen - News of the World (vinyl)
Queen - Flash Gordon (vinyl)
Queen - A Kind of Magic (vinyl)
Queen - Innuendo (vinyl)
Chuck Ragan - Gold Country
Reverend Horton Heat - Laughin' & Cryin' With Reverend Horton Heat
Les Sabler - Live
Brandi Shearer - Love Don't Make You Juliet
Rod Stewart - The Definitive Collection 1969-1978
Trey Songz - Ready
They Might Be Giants - Here Comes Science
Derek Webb - Stockholm Syndrome
The Wiggles - Hot Potatoes! The Best of The Wiggles
Yonder Mountain String Band - The Show
Chris Young - The Man I Want to Be
***This Week's Music DVDs:
Canned Heat - On The Road ... Again: Live
Mariah Carey - Tennessee
Van Cliburn - Van Cliburn In Moscow Vol. 5 (In Recital)
Donovan - Donovan: An Intimate Performance
Christopher Guest, Michael McKean & Harry Shearer - Unwigged & Unplugged Live Concert DVD: An Evening with Christopher Guest, Michael McKean & Harry Shearer
Vanilla Fudge - Live 2004
Edgar Winter - Reach for It: Royal Albert Hall 2004
***...and finally...That Noise Rocks The Good Hurt
Saturday night, indie rockers That Noise played Venice's The Good Hurt and smacked the audience silly with their awesomeness. After a short parade of dopey bands that sounded like your ten-year-old brothers', That Noise took the stage and blew the audience away by their tight musicianship and memorable songs. This group has been playing low key venues for over a year now, apparently to hone their chops, but they're so ready to do some real damage, evidenced by Saturday night's whatever-you'd-call-it. The quick and dirty is vocalist Jawnee Burx and guitarist/producer Jay Skinner revved-up the noise in 2007 within the "Byzantine Latino Quarter" of Los Angeles (as their website puts it), and while touring the U.S., the band got the attention of Tool's and System Of A Down's Sylvia Massey. The Los Feliz area also knows Skinner as the local producer/engineer who's overseen projects or sonics for H Is Orange, Dan Zacharias, Little Plastic Pilots, Commuter, Appogee, and Tiki Lewis, a voice you've heard on many of the more alt-sounding commercials (picture a feistier Feist). Recently, they blew away studio moguls with a song/video for the game Halo, and their just-uploaded "fan" tribute/cover of Kings Of Leon's "Sex On Fire" just started getting some YouTube attention.
Initially skipping the physical product route, That Noise released their album The Way We Are digitally and currently are wrapping up a remix album, both digital projects due to have CD companions. And they even have a mission statement of sorts on their website that reads: "The album encompasses many topics such as the state of media and pop culture and its constant bombardment of telling us that the way we are is not enough, consume more and feel better. Everyone on this earth has a feeling of urgency as to the 'State of Affairs' of our planet and our future and there are 'No Words' to describe this collective consciousness that transcends all race and creed. This album The Way We Are addresses these primal emotions through song."
Songs That Rocked The Good Hurt By That Noise:
Turn
Up To You
The Way We Are
Willow Tree
Balance
End Game
No Words
State of Affairs
In My Sights
Check Out That Noise's VERY Early Video "Willow Tree":