Crumple Up the Midwest
an album about origami with maps

Crumple Up the Midwest was written and recorded in its entirety during November of 2006 as my entry in NaSoAlMo. I wrote one song for each of the twelve states in what the Census Bureau officially calls the Midwestern United States.

This album is free. If you're not satisfied with a virtual copy, see "additional info" below for details on how to make your own "official" CD or how to get one from me.

I played or sequenced everything on Crumple Up the Midwest because those are the rules for NaSoAlMo. I did actually include a couple of "guest stars" as described below, but I made a point to include them as "samples" rather than "guest musicians." I figured that was within the boundaries of a "solo album" given that I was using samples and loops on a number of the songs anyway.

"Phillip in Minnesota" features a guitar solo played by Phil Carpenter. Phil actually played the solo without hearing the song first. He was given the tempo and told that the entire bridge of the song was nothing but A minor. He recorded the solo and emailed it to me, and I then treated it like a made-to-order sample, dropping it into the song. Incidentally, Phil is the Phillip to whom the song refers.

"Evil Reaches Nebraska" makes use of a sample under a Creative Commons sampling license. The thunderstorm sample was obtained via the Freesound Project. It was produced by the Freesound user acclivity. The original sample can be found on the Freesound site in flac and mp3 formats.

"Big Schnuggle (Michigan Mix)" features a sample of Ethel Sparks of Blue Fromage singing her original acapella version of "Big Schnuggle." I recorded her singing over the phone before I did any of the sequencing on the song. Then I built the song out around her vocal part. Technically, the song is a "remix" of a song that hasn't been recorded yet. It's possible that I'm the first person to remix a song that doesn't exist, and if that's true I think it's pretty neat.

This album is dedicated to all the people I know who live in the Midwest. You should all send me your phone numbers if I don't have them already. That way if I ever really do need to crumple up that part of the country, I can call and tell you to evacuate in advance.

This music is free to share under a Creative Commons Music Sharing License.

All songs and recordings are copyright © Martin Mushrush unless otherwise specified.

If you would like to burn a CD after you've downloaded all the songs, you can also download a printable cover insert and tray card which will fit a standard CD jewelcase and make your own professional looking copy. The cover is in PDF format, and you'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to print it.

If you are an audiophile who doesn't like the fact that lossy MP3s sound like ass when they are converted back to WAV files and burned as CD audio, drop me an email at webmaster [at] mushrush.com. You can send me a couple bucks, and I'll burn you a copy from the original audio files. I'll even print out the cover for you and send you the whole package. My handmade versions of the CD will also include a special surprise you won't get with the DIY PDF version! It's not that amazing, but it will prove yours is authentic.

music news

Three (3) Albums Underway

I now have three different album projects going at once. It sounds ridiculous because it is. Here's the order for their "planned" completion:

1. I did not complete my 2007 NaSoAlMo entry in time, but I plan to complete it soon!
2. The next in my regional series of albums is the album of the 12 states in the Southeast.
3. The third album on the proverbial horizon has been a work in progress since before either of the other two projects cut in front of it.