FOR decades the suburban basement has been a petri dish of rock 'n' roll culture.

It has fake wood-veneer paneling like a suburban basement, and framed exhibits on the walls-official documents like licenses and registrations, and enlarged black-and-white photographs of people and boats.

Shelter was jammed to the gills, as it must be virtually every night: the performance space is no bigger than your average suburban basement.

The above-board labels include the Numero Group, run by two former record distribution veterans, which has released a few fine anthologies culled from records found in Goodwill stores and suburban basements.

Rear-projection sets - those gigantic, boxy machines you may have seen in suburban basements - are still around, too ($1,700 to $5,000).

Regardless, Flockey became an instant hit that swept suburban basements in the late 90s and impacted all those that played it.

Part of the Nordic invasion of mid-century American design, shag has worked its way down the decor food chain from showroom to suburban basement - and back up again.

But far from a self-pitying boor lumbering around a suburban basement in his undershirt, Mr. Hanks's antihero is a stern, taciturn killer who projects a tortured nobility.

THE arc of the current mini-series begins in a suburban basement.

There's something dark and vaguely Soviet about the long, dim hallways, covered by black ceiling tiles that seem better suited to a suburban basement than a boutique property.