Friday, January 25, 2008

Fridays with John: From the Basement

From the Basement is a live music video series filmed in London by Nigel Godrich, a Grammy award-winning recording engineer and producer. It started with internet-only podcasts in December 2006 and has just recently been picked up by some HD TV stations in the UK and US.

The program has been recognized for its excellent quality and production. Unlike most live-music shows, there is no audience. The performer's emotion, energy, and talent are the sole focus. Where screaming fans, a host's intro and awkward post-song handshaking have become the norm, it's nice to see artists presented in this stripped-down form.

The first episode of From the Basement featured Thom Yorke who performed 3 songs from the (then forthcoming) Radiohead album In Rainbows, and one from his solo album, The Eraser. Here he plays Videotape from In Rainbows, which he recently described as "the best thing we ever created."

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