TS was an outstanding live band. They were cloyingly sweet, a little too full of themselves but damn could those boys sing. When Dan, Matt and John would all harmonize together it was truly beautiful. Of course, how can you talk about TS and not mention the very weird, most excellent drummer – Elaine. Only “rock” drummer I saw w/o a high-hat.

If all bad pop was the quality of Semisonic, the quality of bad pop would be much improved. While they had a lot of throw-away material, when they were good they were very, very good.

But, Walt Mink was better.

Personally, I was always a little mystified by Trip’s appeal. Part of it was an admittedly stupid hipster-dufus annoyance that Trip brought “those baseball cap wearing dill-holes” into what was “our” turf. But with a few years behind me, and not having heard that godawful “Toolmaster” song since Clinton’s first term, I’ve come to see Trip as having been a pretty damn good band. Matt Wilson was a great song-writer, and it’s a shame that he didn’t go on to have the same level of success as Dan did.

‘89 to about ‘94 was a great period for some really stellar pop music out of Minneapolis. Walt Mink and The Hang Ups put out two of the best local albums of the decade (“Miss Happiness” and “He’s After Me”, respectively.) Soul Asylum put out their last good album (“And the Horse they Rode In On”), The Spectors put out a handful of really amazing 7” garage/psych-pop, and The 27 Various released the guitar-rock classic “Up”.

Also, it’s true that Dan Wilson wasn’t really the soul of Trip Shakespeare, as Brian Wilson was the soul of the Beach Boys. It is unjust that brother Matt never got to be a one-hit wonder as well.

I’m a fairly regular lurker here, and drop in haphazardly at some of the sites listed on the blogroll at right. When music is discussed, it is almost never classical. This is true for rightwing sites as well (from my limited experience), but one would think that left/liberal bloggers would have a more catholic and sophisticated taste in music.

It’s also a crude tool in that it only includes one left-wing-y blog and two specific composers. I really just wanted to suggest that even a minimal amount of work contradicts the idea that no one ever talks about classical music.

That’s too crude a tool. Following some of the links you’ve turned up leads to threads that have nothing to do with classical music. E.G.:

http://crookedtimber.org/2005/01/21/friday-fun-thread

…so, I’m wondering, what is it about leftwing bloggers that not a single one (that comes immediately to mind) ever posts about classical music? Orchestral or vocal. Solo, chamber or opera. Nothing. Niente. Nada. Did no one grow up listening to “serious” music? Is this a class thing? Something political? Is classical too “decent”? What am I missing?