Centre Stage From The Basement on Sky Arts: new music show for TV

When it comes to regular music shows on TV, we’re down to severely slim pickings at the moment. There are some great one-off documentaries and series - such as the Folk/Jazz Britannia strand on BBC Four, and Seven Ages Of Rock - but in terms of tuning in every single week to see live performances, there’s very little to choose from. Top Of The Pops was flagging for months if not years before it finally came off our screens, but nothing has really filled the gap.
Later… with Jools Holland has its good weeks, but there seem to be more and more bad weeks these days, to be honest. Sound, on BBC Three, is probably the nearest thing we have to a proper music show - live performances from all sorts of genres, as well as interviews and footage from Jo Whiley’s Live Lounge - but it suffers from trying to be too ‘yoof’. If you just want to see amazing bands rocking out, then this new show, “Centre Stage: From The Basement”, on Sky Arts will be for you.

It’s definitely for me - I mean, I’m starting to wonder if they’ve put the first week’s line-up together *especially* for me: The White Stripes, The Shins and Neil Hannon. Amazing!
The White Stripes are, quite simply, one of the best bands in the world at this moment. Look at that photo up there - can us mere mortals ever hope to be half as cool? They can do rock, they can do blues, they can do country, they can do… marimba. Whether it’s the almost American rap-esque Icky Thump, the timeless In The Cold Cold Night, or their amazing cover of Jolene, the White Stripes do everything with style and gusto. And don’t tell me Meg can’t drum - I’ll get angry. The Shins I know less about, but I’d imagine they were both flattered and a little paralysed with expectation when, in Garden State, Natalie Portman declared to the world that “they will change your life.” Perhaps that’s a little excessive, but they sure do write pretty tunes. Something which is probably a bit of an understatement when it comes to Neil Hannon, of The Divine Comedy. With songs like Something For The Weekend, Songs Of Love (yes, that one from Father Ted), A Lady Of A Certain Age and Our Mutual Friend to his name, he is probably one of the most accomplished song-writers working at the moment.
Not a bad line-up then. And what’s more, From The Basement keeps it up. Look what’s on over the next few weeks:
8 December 2007: Thom Yorke, Albert Hammond Jr (The Strokes) & The Envelopes
15 December 2007: Beck, Jarvis Cocker & Jamie Lidell (Super Collider)
22 December 2007: Sonic Youth, Jose Gonzalez and Laura Marling
29 December 2007: Super Furry Animals, PJ Harvey, Operator Please and Free Blood
Pretty impressive stuff - and you’ll be glad to know that there’s not even an annoying presenter to put you off watching. It’s just the bands in a basement. Brilliant. Here’s an exclusive clip of The White Stripes to whet your appetite:

Centre Stage: From The Basement, Sky Arts, Saturday 1 December, 9pm
Get your daily fix of TV news from our sister site TVScoop