There have been — I don’t know — 1.1 million stories written and broadcast within the last 24 hours about the 25th anniversary of MTV, and of those 1.09999 million complained that the channel, which (lest we forget) was created to air television commercials for record companies, was no longer a “music station.” Most of the reports devoted a lot of time to MTV’s current reality-show programming — like the sickening My Super Sweet 16 — and then pondered if it was “the right thing for our kids to be watching.” Even the OWH‘s former music reporter, Christine Laue, did sort of an “overview” story about MTV (here).

In every thing I’ve seen, heard and read, the reporters completely missed what I consider to be MTV’s biggest impact not only on today’s national music scene, but on the Omaha music scene as well. Since there’s nothing else going on today — no music feature to post this week (X ain’t doing interviews, at least not with me), no shows tonight worth pimping — let me explain…

Growing up in Omaha, the only music I heard was whatever records my parents owned (the usual collection of Broadway soundtracks and lounge music, plus my dad’s copy of the Original motion picture soundtrack to the movie Grand Prix (blared as loud as possible on his then-cutting-edge Telefunken stereo system) along with whatever was on Z-92. When we moved to Fort Calhoun and I was in high school, the music of choice came in two flavors — Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd… And, of course, whatever was played on The Z (Van Halen, Journey, REO Speedwagon, you know the drill).

Just like today, Omaha didn’t have a college radio station that played real college (i.e. “underground”) music. You had The Z, Rock 100, Sweet 98 and a boatload of country stations. You could not hear what was going on in the then-infant world of alternative music. The raciest thing I remember hearing on the radio was The Z’s Slats Gannon playing a track or two off U2’s War album, which seemed bold and experimental.

Then along came MTV. It’d been around for years, but no one I knew had cable TV until I was in college. Suddenly all the lousy music you heard on the radio now had pictures to go with it. That awful Jefferson Starship song or the ubiquitous ZZ Top song off Eliminator that Z-92 played into the ground could now be both seen and heard. Who remembers Gina Tomasina? Sure, MTV played videos by a few bands that we (thankfully) hadn’t heard of, like Men Without Hats or The Thompson Twins or Duran Duran, which eventually would cross over to the radio, but that was about it for any breakthroughs. MTV was there for those brain-dead moments, it was something you had on before you went out that night or when you were sitting around your friends’ house drinking beer after class. Completely inconsequential, except for one single program, and I think everyone who reads this blog knows what program I’m thinking of (and no, it wasn’t Yo! MTV Raps).

For two hours every Sunday night, MTV aired a show called 120 Minutes, a program dedicated solely to college music in the early days of indie. For the first time, many of us who had been shielded from that weird alternative music were hearing bands like The Smiths, Joy Division, The Cure, Husker Du, Echo & The Bunnymen, Public Image Ltd, The Psychedelic Furs, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Depeche Mode, Aztec Camera, World Party, Lloyd Cole and the Commotions, The Alarm, The Connells, Syd Straw, The dB’s, Buffalo Tom, Chapterhouse, The Stone Roses, Inspiral Carpets, Galaxie 500, Cocteau Twins, The Sundays, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Sonic Youth, Mazzy Star, Pixies, Jane’s Addiction, Nine Inch Nails… the list goes on and on throughout the early ’90s until the Grunge bands brought alternative to the surface.

120 Minutes was the only place to hear this kind of music broadcast in Omaha other than the short-lived cable-only KRCK. Sure, the show skipped over entire genres of underground music (There was no hardcore on 120 Minutes, for example — bands like The Butthole Surfers, Black Flag and other SST acts were too harsh for television or didn’t make videos), but at least it was something. I can say without hesitation that the program had an impact on my current taste in music.

And I can tell you from interviews with a number of local bands that 120 Minutes impacted their taste in music, too. Yes, most of the ’90s-era Omaha musicians became aware of the music that influenced their sound from places like The Antiquarium, Drastic Plastic, The Cog Factory (see tomorrow’s column) and their network of friends, but most of them also watched 120 Minutes every Sunday night. It was a cool show, chock full of cool music and the occasional cool interview by Dave Kendall — I still remember seeing Johnny Rotten complain about The Cure was (“It’s all done in minor key. It’s boring!”).

I have to believe that Omaha wasn’t the only city or town inwhich 120 Minutes was the only avenue for college music. Think about all the indie bands out there now and ask yourself how many of them watched that show. It’s probably more than you think.

Anyway, in its ongoing evolution to become an electonic pile of shit, MTV cancelled 120 Minutes in 2003, but the show still lives on in a different format on MTV2 — the 60-minute-long Subterranean, which I Tivo every week. The sad truth is that, to this day, Subterranean is still the only place to hear real college music in the Omaha area other than Dave Leibowitz’s two hours on The River, which is also broadcast on Sunday nights. It’s sad that we still don’t have a college radio station that plays college music in this town and ironic that Subterranean played Saddle Creek videos years before any radio station in Omaha played them. The more things change, the more they stay the same…

You can read more about 120 Minutes here on the altmusictv.com site.

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So the guy next to me turns around during The Go! Team‘s final song last night — while the 300 or so on hand were jumping up and down to the beat with their hands in the air — and he says “I’m proud of Omaha tonight.” Yeah, people actually danced at last night’s show. But really, how could they not? Not only does the Go! Team’s flavor of trip-hop meets indie meets School House Rock good-time music produce involuntary “bounce” spasms, there also was Spice Girl-style front woman Ninja yelling for people to “show their best moves” while she waved her arms like a hip-hop aerobics instructor. The crowd wanted her to like them, and judging by her comment — “Best American crowd evah!” (which I’m sure she says to all the guys) — she did.

Lots of surprised last night:

The turnout, for example. Says Ninja, “We were afraid no one here would know who we were and that we’d be playing to an empty room.”

The music, for another example. While I knew it was going to be different than the records, I didn’t expect it to be as hip-hop heavy (and at times just plain heavy) as it was. Six people constantly changing instruments, including two drum sets, glockenspiel, keyboards, recorder, guitar and bass. I have no idea how the samples — a Go! Team staple — were handled. Some horn samples were programmed into one of the keyboards. But for the most part the sample effects from the recordings were reinterpreted by the instruments.

And finally, the dancing. I warned them that they could be playing in front of a crowd of arm-crossed zombies. That wasn’t the case. The last time I saw that kind of pogo-ing was at a 311 show.

It wasn’t all dance music, though. The band played at least four unreleased songs, and two or three of them were somber instrumentals. The first one sounded like an Arcade Fire offshoot. Another sounded like it came from the motion picture soundtrack to ’70s thriller The Parallax View (the part where Warren Beatty is brain washed — you remember don’t you?). The instrumentals brought the crowd down. But each was followed by another roaring dance number that usually involved Ninja prompting the crowd to yell-spell GO! TEAM or scream “OH Yeah!” which the crowd was more than happy to do.

Tonight, a first for One Percent Production — the As I Lay Dying show that was slated for Sokol Auditorium has been moved downstairs to Sokol Underground due to poor ticket sales. Also on the bill are Black Dahlia Murder, Terror, Evergreen Terrace, Through the Eyes of the Dead and Cellador. The show still starts at 6:30 (it would have to considering the number of bands) and still costs $15. I’m guessing this will now sell out…

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I don’t think I mentioned it before but Little Brazil has been added to tonight’s Go! Team show with Eagle*Seagull. It has all the makings of being one of the better shows of the summer… if anyone shows up. And they should, even if it’s 110 degrees down in Sokol Underground (They do have some sort of air conditioning down there, right?). $12, 9 p.m.

And speaking of Sokol’s air quality, a couple weeks ago I noticed that they posted signs over the bar that said they were going to start enforcing the upcoming smoking ban beginning Aug. 1 instead of the law’s Oct. 2 start date. I asked One Percent about the change, and they said they have no intention of enforcing the ban until October and that those signs were coming down. Regardless, it’s only a matter of time before Sokol becomes smoke free since it fits within the description of facilities that must enforce the city’s new smoking ban. The thought of no longer coming home from Sokol Underground shows smelling like an ashtray seems almost surreal. You read a lot about how these smoking bans impact businesses, but I can’t see it having any impact at all on Sokol turnout one way or another. You either want to see the bands or you don’t, and everyone I know who goes to shows has always understood that smoking was part of that environment. If anything, the ban could have a positive effect on attendance, especially from younger patrons whose parents are smart enough to monitor the conditions of where their kids go after dark. We may never find out, of course, since a lawsuit was filed against the City of Omaha by the folks that run the Marleybone on Leavenworth, saying the ban gives special preference to some businesses, such as Horseman’s Park, keno parlors and stand-alone bars, all of whom are granted a 5-year grace period from the ban. It could get ugly. It also begs the question of whether O’Leaver’s falls under that exception — it’s a stand-alone bar, but everyone knows they have a kitchen in there that’s been known to serve food (though I’ve never actually seen anyone eat anything in O’Leaver’s other than Taco John).

Anyway, make sure you get to the show early tonight to catch the openers. It will be interesting to see if anyone dances during the Go! Team set. I’ve warned the band that they may be disappointed by Omaha audiences’ inability to “move to the beat” during rock shows. I don’t think Ninja is going to put up with it…

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If you have any ideas, please plug them in on the webboard…

There’s no show that I’m aware of tonight at O’Leaver’s. Sokol is doing a hip-hop show. That’s it, folks. If you’re lucky enough to live in Lincoln you can check out Ideal Cleaners and The Monroes at Bob’s Tavern (no idea where it’s actually located, just find it).

Saturday there’s a little more going on. Sokol Underground is hosting Denver combo Devotchka. I like what I heard on their myspace page — acoustic balladry featuring accordion, stand-up bass, pre-Soviet Union melodies and Roy Orbison-style vocals. Opening is Outlaw con Bandana and Fine Fine Automobiles. $9, 9 p.m. Also Saturday night, Columbus, Ohio, indie pop band Miranda Sound plays at O’Leaver’s with The Upsets, Dead Man’s Hands and Shanks. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Sunday there are… no shows worth mentioning. The River Riot is going on at Westfair with a line-up that 100 percent sucks. I’m sure it’ll be a huge hit.

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Column 86: Fall Back, Stagger Forward
Sometimes retro works, sometimes it doesn’t.

If there’s a theme to this collection of CD reviews it’s “retro.” At least half of these records contain music inspired — for better or worse — by an era gone by. What’s that old adage: There’s nothing new about rock music — it all feeds off the corpses of its betters. That may be true, but how a band takes and makes that rich, smelly compost its own is what defines it for its own generation — a generation that’s oh so quick to forget the one that came before it.

Eric Bachmann, To The Races (Saddle Creek) — There’s a painful, almost sadly scary tone to Bachmann’s songwriting, whether solo or with Crooked Fingers. Listening to the words too closely will take you to dark places that he knows too well. That sweet lullaby is really a cry of longing from someone who knows exactly what loneliness is (He wrote this album while living in the back of his van, presumably down by the river). The best acoustic set since Joni was doing this back in the ’60s, easily one of the best CDs so far this year, and a smart, smart addition by our proud local label. Rating: Yes

Now It’s Overhead, Dark Light Daybreak (Saddle Creek) — Andy LeMaster’s spacey, echoing head-space production was just what we were looking for on his band’s ’01 debut and follow-up Fall Back Open. Now it’s getting kind of tired, especially when he stays stuck in the same ol’ mid-tempo roll, even on the harder rockers like “Walls” that sound like everything we’ve heard before. Their recent guttural live set at Sokol Underground is the direction they should be heading instead of this all too familiar road. Rating: No

Pet Shop Boys, Fundamental (Rhino) — They’re calling it a return to form for these ’80s gay-dance-club icons. Wish it was. Fans will recognize the usual thump-thump-thump, the blurting priss-synth tones, and Neil Tennant’s always inviting runway croon. But missing is the charm from the earlier recordings (even the overlooked late ’90s Sire releases), instead opting for disco camp on songs like the in-your-face “The Sodom and Gomorrah Show,” the retro single “I’m With Stupid,” and the drama-bloat ballads “Numb” and “Luna Park.” Where’s the mystery, boys, where’s the fun? Rating: No

The Rye Coalition, Curses (Gern Blandsten) — Proof that this is the genuine article: Playing it in my car resulted in my girlfriend saying, “Yuck… this sounds like all that heavy metal crap from the ’70s.” Exactly! It’s difficult — nay impossible — to pull this off without sounding camp, but somehow these guys do it, right down to the tasteless girl-covered-in-tar-and-feathers cover art. Pure Kiss meets Nugent meets AC/DC meets Kiss balls-to-the-wall rock with song titles like “Between An I-ROC and a Hard Place” and “Vietnam Veterinarian.” What more do you want; what more do you need? Rating: Yes

Towers of London, Blood Sweat & Towers (TVT) — The brick-thick cockney accent says ‘we’re London punk-thugs,’ but their music betrays a Hollywood and Vine sensitivity last heard from those tender G’n’R boys. Forget about those dark Thatcher days — they’re long gone and these native Liverpooleans and Buckinghamshire-ites are too young to remember them anyway. I’m sure they’d be plenty angry if they had something to be angry about. Blistering rock, but as hard and fast as they play, I still prefer the pretty banjo version of “F**K It Up” that begs you to sing along, and you will. Rating: Yes

Paul Simon, Surprise (Warner Bros) — Mr. 100-Year-Old’s fusion with Brian Eno is well-documented, and well done. Eno adds the depth and sonic interest that Simon hasn’t had since he went to Africa in the mid-’80s. I could do without the cloying fatherhood numbers (“Father and Daughter” “Beautiful”) and the God overtones (“Outrageous”), but there’s still more than enough Me and Julio-style storytelling to go around. And his voice never sounded better. Rating: Yes

Frank Black, Fast Man, Raider Man (Back Porch) — Of course we all only want the best for ol’ Frank because we’re all Pixies fans at heart (I still insist they were the most influential band of the ’90s). But Frank has consistently disappointed on his own, and this massive two-CD collection of thin, wandering ditties is no exception. It’s not that he doesn’t rock — he certainly tries to, in a bluesy, honky-tonk sort of way — it’s that he rocks boring. And taken over 27 tracks, that’s a whole lot of boring. What happened to that Pixies reunion? Rating: No

The Rosewood Thieves, From the Decker House (V2) — New York singer/songwriter Erick Jordan would be happy if you compared his snarling voice to John Lennon’s, even though he and his cohorts lean closer to twangy Steve Wynn territory. These simple indie folk-rock ditties, like EP closer “Lonesome Road,” are breathy love songs with warm hooks, hand claps, ragtime piano and lots of ewwss thrown in for good measure. Produced by Thom Monahan (The Pernice Bros., Devandra Banhart). Rating: Yes

Just placed online, an interview with The Go! Team mad scientist Ian Parton (read it here). Ian talks about the band’s short ride to the top… in Europe, their relative obscurity in the states, their stage show (festivals vs. Sokol Underground), and working on their new album. It’s all there in the story, except for his comments about Omaha (“I don’t know…. It’s the Midwest, middle of the country, I imagine it being flat and rural.”). The show is next Monday night with Eagle*Seagull and could be a good one if anyone shows up. Looking at some of their live footage on YouTube, they like to turn their shows into dance parties. Good luck with that one, folks.

A couple shows worth mentioning going on tonight: Denton, Texas nerd folkie rockers Fishboy are playing at O’Leaver’s with local talent Bill Latham. 9:30 p.m., $5. Down at Sokol Underground Sarah Benck and the Robbers play with Anonymous American and Zack Hexum (brother of 311’s Nick). $8, 9 p.m.

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I’m listening to the new Magnolia Electric Co. album, Fading Trails on Secretly Canadian Records, as I write this. I’m thinking dusty Crazy Horse-era Neil Young sung by Roy Orbison. Simple boom-chuck rhythms, nice piano, glowing pedal-steel rise. Laid-back, mid-tempo, rural songs about regret and similar such things. If you don’t know it, MEC is Jason Molina’s Songs: Ohia, renamed back in ’03. Molina has worked in the past with producer Mike Mogis and has grown a sizable national following. Opener Ladyhawk is more of the same, only louder, with more electricity thrown in the mix, kind of reminds me of Swearing at Motorists. “Teenage Love Song,” off their self-titled Jagjaguwar debut, sounds like Silkworm doing a Richard Thompson song with an extra helping of anguish. Opening the festivities is Omaha’s own No Blood Orphan. $9, 9 p.m. at Sokol Underground…

Tomorrow here at Lazy-i, look for a feature/interview with The Go! Team’s Ian Parton. And the column is back Thursday with a handful of CD reviews…

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First off, their name. I don’t dislike it because it’s lame, but because it looks like they ripped off The GO! Team (Note the use of the word “GO”, note the similar use of exclamation points). Who had the idea first? I have to believe it was the band from England, who are quickly becoming a worldwide phenomenon (Don’t believe me? Check out their mini-documentary on their myspace page or see them when they drop by Sokol Underground July 31, wedging dirty ol’ Omaha between Red Rocks and Lollapalooza).

I can hear what you’re thinking: The name of a band is inconsequential. Ah, but it isn’t, especially if the band intends to make a name for itself outside of Omaha, and judging from what I’ve heard so far, this band has the potential to do that. If they tour larger cities, they will be harangued about their name from music writers who know what’s going on in the indie scene.

Ironically, the fact that their name appears to be lifted from another band seems appropriate, since GO! Motion takes styles from a variety of bands and mashes them into something that sounds exactly like something you’ve heard before. Part of the fun is picking out their references. The vocals? Pure Robert Smith circa Boys Don’t Cry (one patron was agog over the similarity, especially considering that frontman Albert Kurniawn is Asian and speaks with a charming Asian twang). The guitars? Hmmm… early U2 circa Boy or War, maybe The Alarm or Midnight Oil — just fill in your favorite post-punk band from the ’80s whose guitars featured tons of delay. The overall style? Underground dance, in an upbeat Interpol vein, definitely VHS or Beta (but with less Duran Duran overtones), certainly retro. You getting the picture?

All that said, I liked what I heard from the five-piece, though the mix was muddy, jumbled, with entirely too much low-end. GO! Motion prides itself as a dance band, driven by fast backbeat drums and throbbing bass. Their charm comes from both the soaring guitar lines and Albert’s Cure-esque vocals, as well as his endearing between-song patter. He wants to see you dance. Really! But only a handful of the 100 or so did (This is Omaha, remember?). So desperate was he to generate a dance party vibe that he invited some of the girls in the crowd to join them on stage for the last song — always a cheesy moment, always a mistake because the chosen girls never know what to do and end up looking like a pack of strippers.

At the end of the set, the band gave away copies of their new CD, Kill the Love — a marketing ploy that’s becoming more and more common these days. Might as well put the music in the peoples’ hands and let word of mouth do the rest (if the music is any good, that is). The CD sounds way better then last night’s live set, probably because it was recorded at Smart Studios in Madison and Blacklodge down in Eudora, and superstar engineer Doug Van Sloun mastered it. The CD allows you hear all the little parts that you missed during the muddy live performance, even The Faint-inspired synth riffs (Fun, but ultimately a mistake that wasn’t replicated on stage).

There are a lot of bands doing this sort of rock-dance these days (VHS or Beta, Interpol, Franz Ferdinand, etc.). GO! Motion belongs in the conversation. The only thing that could hold them back is their inability to distance themselves from their influences, allowing them to reveal their own unique voice. There is a voice in there, somewhere, waiting to get out. Until then, GO! Motion will be content just trying to get you to dance, and that isn’t such a bad thing… Now if they could just do something about that name…

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The last time Gris Gris came through Omaha I arrived at the venue just in time to catch their last song, and have been slapping myself for it ever since. This trippy Oakland band records for indie powerhouse Birdman Records (Twilight Singers, The Warlocks, Paula Frazer). Their music is a slice of ’60s psych reminiscent of Aftermath-era Stones. Cool. Check out their myspace. Opening is the always-entertaining Terminals. $5, 10 p.m. Terminals’ keyboardist Dave Goldberg tells me that his recent tour of duty with Thor (along with Steve Jacobs (Diabolic Possession and The Filthy Few) and Jeff Decker) was so well-liked by the Norse God that he’s asked them to join him on an upcoming tour. Nice. Wish I would have caught that show… but it sounds like there’s a good chance that they’ll be coming through Omaha again soon.

Tomorrow night, Outlaw con Bandana is at O’Leaver’s with Ed Gray and Peter and the Wolf. Mr. Gray, who hails from Iowa City, wrote to say that he’s got a 7-inch out on Unread Records and has a new one coming out in the fall “that was done in O-town last year w/ Joyner, Deden, McManus, Tulis, etc.etc.” Check out his myspace. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Also Saturday night, Landing on the Moon is opening for local band Go! Motion (their CD release show) at Sokol Underground. $7, 9 p.m.

That’s all I got. Don’t forget to swing by Horsemen’s Park for the annual track meet (Live racing! Real horses! Big bucks!).

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The Channel, Tales from Two Hill Heart/Sibylline Machine (C Side) — With a seven-piece band there’s plenty of room to create intricate sounds and songs. The Channel knows this very well. No part is out of place or invading the wavelengths of others on this well-orchestrated double-disc. The instrumentation is even more impressive. Anywhere from two to four keyboards, organs or Rhodes are heard at any given time. The guitars trade off from acoustic to electric while a lap steel fluidly traverses a handful of the songs.

The instrumentation remains consistent across both discs, but the sounds come together to give each its own distinct sense. They are, however, very much two of the same, set at different targets. While both are rooted deeply in the alternative-country vein Sibylline Machine is the more upbeat and Tales from Two Hill Heart is more reserved, with nice harmonies that provide a melancholy overtone. Rating: Yes — Brendan Greene-Walsh

Tim sez: Do we have Conor to blame for all these double-discs these days? This is the third one I’ve received in the past couple weeks, two of which came from unknown bands. Used to be the argument was over whether to put out an EP or a full length — now it’s between putting out a single or a double disc. No one knows who you are, folks. Why submit strangers to this much material? Edit, goddamit! My vote always will be for releasing a single CD, and if you’re a new band, an EP. I don’t need to hear 23 songs that sound oh so similar. And that’s what you get here with Austin’s The Channel. When you have a style that relies so heavily on recent Of Montreal and Shins, a little goes a long way. Twenty minutes worth? Sure. Over an an hour? Uh, no. Rating: No