BLOOD OCEAN / SPREADERS split
(Grand Imperial Record Co.)



The four songs on this shared release have titles that reference names. Blood Oceans’ are vague, with Claire and Vampire, while Spreaders’ are specific, perhaps real, perhaps imaginary: Frank Peru and Pat Price. Two approaches to song and sound creation find a common setting, and deliver a compound statement.

John P., aka Spreaders, offers ambient patterns and textures with meaningful, emotional sentiment. A dusty old synthesizer dreams it’s an orchestra, and a guitar is patched through a delay pedal filled with salt water. If these tracks were originally blocks of freshly chopped cedar, John P.’s treatments would reduce the sharp square corners, and result in asymmetrical capsules to sit and contemplate on.

John Milano is the given name of Blood Ocean, one of his many aliases/projects. Claire has a mid-tempo, chugging drum and bass foundation with one foot on a dance floor, the other in a bucket of ball bearings. Vampire is more of psyche-guitar freak-out inside of a pop song.

You can see and hear more of what I am describing at the label’s site. Each tape comes with a download code on a specially printed card.

http://grandimperial.storenvy.com/products/7008740-blood-ocean-spreaders-cassette

--Adam Padavano