From The Basement (Music Concerts/Eagle DTS DVD)
Picture:
C+ Sound: B Extras: D Concert Compilation: B+
Is it me,
or does it just seem that the British have a better appreciation for music than
the train wreck that is the U.S. charts?
A few months ago, we covered a great compilation of concert performances
from the Live At Abbey Road series,
a set that is now already going out of print!
Well, it turns out another amazing such series called From The Basement has arrived on DVD
(no Blu-ray yet, sadly) that has been on U.S. cable and deserves a much wider
audience like its counterpart. It is
also a winner and may to me a music classic.
It is
literally from the recording studios in the basement of longtime Radiohead
producers Nigel Godrich, whose sonic standards are among the best in the
business. These clips have three
directors in all in this case, including the brilliant Sophie Muller, but there
is some special chemistry and something in the moment going on here we have not
seen in any music series in
decades. The performers featured include
Radiohead, The White Stripes, Beck, Jamie Lidell, The Shins, Jarvis Cocker of
Pulp, Neil Hannon, Laura Marling, Sonic Youth, Eels, Albert Hammond Jr., P.J.
Harvey, Super Furry Animals, Damien Rice, Autolux, Jose Gonzales and Thom Yorke
solo.
This all
runs well over two hours and is always engaging. The fact that all this talent showed up
should give you the idea that there is much respect, talent, collaboration and
work on, by and about music for the sake of music that used to be a standard of
the acts record labels signed up until the early 1980s. Now, it is something we see too rarely. That is why any serious music fan needs to
pick up this DVD.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is the only shortcoming, with its Video
Black limits and detail issues, most of which I would expect a Blu-ray would
correct. As for the sound, the DTS 5.1
mix is amazing and if it were any better, I would have to give it a higher
letter grade. There are lesser Dolby
Digital 5.1 and 2.0 options, but the DTS especially demonstrates a remarkable
consistent soundfield throughout that is sonically superior and has few peers
in DVD or Blu-ray. There are no extras,
but at 129 minutes total, you will not notice.
- Nicholas Sheffo
