Being the ignoramus I am, I had never heard of the From The Basement series, where musicians get to perform to, well… an empty studio! It sounds awful on paper, and the early days of filming rock bands is littered with awkward, atmosphere-free examples of this approach.

But this is different. The artists obviously get to call the shots, so they can set up the studio exactly as they want it, complete with props if they so desire. It’s something of a revelation seeing performers do their thing so nakedly, and generally speaking, the performances are superb, the filming is excellent, and the artists selected to take part are way better than the batting average.

Radiohead, and their singer Thom Yorke, get to bookend this selection, and thereby give it their blessing, and their tracks (‘All I Need’, ‘Reckoner’, ‘Down Is The New Up’, ‘Videotape’) are great. The DVD is full of hip cred alt-rock icons like The White Stripes, Beck, Jarvis Cocker, Sonic Youth and PJ Harvey, along with a small sampling of wet sing-songwriter types like Damien Rice and Jose Gonzalez.

If you like the selection, the rest is easy: recommended. GARY STEEL

Sound 3.5

Picture 3.5

Overall 3.5