Welcome

Jack Kerouac, Beat generation writer and author of On the Road

I’m probably the millionth person who decided it would be cool to write a blog on music. But that’s okay because I plan on making this blog a must-read for music fans everywhere. Besides, there’s so much crazy bullshit online these days, what difference will it make to contribute to the pile.

The blog’s name Muligo is derived from the Latin words musica (music) and perligo (review). I had other names for the blog, but the keepers of the Internet domain names wouldn’t let me use them. So, I guess we’re stuck with Muligo but it kind of grows on you.

The reason I started this blog should be obvious: I love music and how it makes people feel. When you go see your favorite artist at a concert, people tend to be at their best (happy, smiling, laughing and basically having an all-around good time-though certain ingested substances may be a contributing factor to their demeanor). Or, when you’re listening to music alone in your home or car, it takes your mind off from all of those life stresses gnawing at your soul. I think listening to music causes some kind of chemical reaction in your brain that shuts out negative thoughts, at least temporarily.

This is actually not my first rodeo in writing about all-things music. It takes me back to my roots when I wrote record (remember those?) reviews for my high-school newspaper. However, I was sort of a shy kid, so I used the pseudonym Les Paul on my reviews. Les Paul was a pioneer of the electric guitar, but none of my classmates never bothered to ask if anyone had heard of a student named Les Paul.

A few years later, I was writing album reviews for my college newspaper. This is where I really cut my teeth on providing critical analysis of musical performers (mostly in the rock genre). I recall the time that I panned an ABBA wannabe band’s record. The Swedish pop band ABBA was bad enough, but these imitators were beyond horrible. After my review was published, the record label, I think it was Columbia, wrote a nasty note to my editor saying they would never, ever send another album of one of their recording artists to be reviewed by the newspaper. The editor’s response to me: job well done. By the way, I think the record label later dropped the band after its first and only album with them.

So this is essentially a long and rambling introduction about the Muligo blog. In subsequent blogs, I’ll be writing reviews on artists’ latest musical offerings as well as their past works, covering live concerts (New York metropolitan areas unless someone wants to fly me to California or Europe), interviews with unknown or barely known recording artists because famous ones will only allow interviews with the elite music press corps (I’m not there –yet). The site will also include photos and videos of concerts and, basically, any damn thing I want to put in this blog. At times, the content will be irreverent, humorous, and, of course, always factual.

However, this blog will be nothing without regular interaction from readers. So, I highly encourage everyone reading this blog to comment on any of the content. I have a very thick skin, so please speak your mind but may I ask that you please refrain from using obscenity or making terroristic threats to get your point(s) across. That would not be nice.

Looking forward to bringing you the next issue of Muligo. Stay tuned.

Marc Weinstein, founder of Muligo.com