Nigel Godrich’s complete From The Basement series to be uploaded to YouTube
The program was devised to showcase bands performing in an intimate setting.
Producer Nigel Godrich performing with Atoms For Peace / Simone Cecchetti / Corbis via Getty Images
Nigel Godrich’s complete From The Basement music performance series – which ran from 2006 to 2009 – is set to be uploaded in full to YouTube. The series was filmed at BBC’s Maida Vale studios, and was devised as a means to showcase both established and upcoming artists performing in an intimate environment, without an audience.
An official YouTube channel for the series was established at the end of February – and now includes a growing collection of performances from the likes of Radiohead, The White Stripes and Thundercat. Watch Radiohead perform their single, Staircase below.
Reflecting on the series’ creation – and giving us an idea of what future uploads entail – Godrich wrote this in a Tweet:
“We did it against all odds, spanning 3 series. It was a joy to record and film the likes of The Fall, The White Stripes, Sonic Youth, PJ Harvey, Jarvis Cocker, Beck, Sparks and more. We captured Thom playing unrecorded songs for the first time, and the first TV [appearance] of Laura Marling.” The full tweet below.
We did it against all odds.. spanning 3 series.. It was a joy to record and film the likes of The Fall, The White Stripes, Sonic Youth, PJ Harvey, Jarvis Cocker, Beck, Sparks and more. We captured Thom playing unrecorded songs for the first time, and the first TV of Laura Marling
— nigel godrich 🌈 (@nigelgod) May 21, 2020
Godrich has ascribed some of the inspiration behind the From The Basement series to the Rolling Stones’ documentary Rock And Roll Circus. “Beck and I [had] been watching Rock and Roll Circus, that Rolling Stones movie that they made after they’d been on tour,” he told Pitchfork in a 2007 interview.
“We were just saying how amazing it was to see such a snapshot of that time: you get to see them, warts and all, hanging out with John Lennon and Eric Clapton and all these people. [We were] just saying what a shame it was that there wasn’t anything that really felt as honest as that anymore, at the moment.”
Check out From The Basement’s official YouTube channel here.
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