Herald Scotland, july 25 2012 continued
Having become "besotted" with a friend's saxophone, Blurt's first release was a single, with the magnificently titled My Mother was A Friend of an Enemy of the People on one side, and Get, about Pete Brown's model aeroplane collection, on the other. Through Wilson, Blurt filled one side of a four-act compilation put out by Wilson's Factory Records, and shared live bills with Joy Division.
"It was a very aggressive act," Milton recalls of Blurt's early days. "I see clips from that time, and am stunned by how aggressive it was."
When asked what drove such anger-fuelled provocations, both musically and with Mr Pugh, "You'd have to see some of the Polaroids of the barbed wire on my potty," is all Milton will say.
Over the last 30 years, Blurt have dipped in and out of view, ploughing Milton's wilfully individual furrow on umpteen beneath-the-radar releases. These have included two Best of Blurt compilations, while the Factory-centric LTM label repackaged the band's contributions to Wilson's label in 2008. There have been collaborations with laptop artist Sam Britton, an album of new Blurt material, Cut It, in 2010, and forthcoming work with Wire bass player Graham Lewis, who Milton met on the set of So It Goes.
There have also been a series of limited edition books, hand-made by Milton to showcase lyrics, poems and rare recordings.
"That's made me so much money I can hardly come to Britain in case the algae grows over my pool in Barbados," he jokes.
As well as the Edinburgh Jazz Festival show, Milton and his cohorts will also be making an appearance at the Stirlingshire-based Doune the Rabbit Hole festival. This will be in the guise of Blurrt, a two-r'd collaboration with Glasgow-based tropical pop combo, Fur Hood. Also on the bill will be one half of Optimo team, JD Twitch, which, in terms of Caledonian connections, brings Milton full circle.
"I'm always looking for new territories, " he says, "This one sounds nice. There'll be hot and cold dancing girls in every corner, I hope."
© Neil Cooper