blurt
ltm catalogue

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Founded by poet/performance artist Ted Milton in 1979, unclassifiable trio Blurt were associated with Factory Records during 1980 before moving on to pastures new. Albums include In Berlin, Blurt, Bullets For You, Poppycock and Friday the 12th. The band continue to tour and record, and released fearless new album Cut It! in 2010. To read Blurt sleevenotes click here. To buy Blurt CDs click here.


CUT IT! (LTMCD 2560) £10
Still as unique and frenetic as ever, on their first new album in 13 years Blurt comprise sax blowing frontman Ted Milton along with guitarist Steve Eagles and new drummer David Aylward. Dark and intense, Cut It! was recorded with co-producer Sam Britton and features ten brand new tracks, including the limited edition 7" single Cut It! issued in 2009. Full tracklist: Once More, Pure Scenario, Plunge, Cut It, Hat, The Bells, Block, Gerbera, Sweete Thames, Minibar

Reviews: 'Demonic sax, and shouty, Dadaist poetry in an Afro-punk, psycho-funk, instant pogo jazz way, from honking mad veteran sax man Ted Milton and his engagingly whacked-out crew' (Time Out, 07/2010); 'While the direction Blurt follow here might be less funk, less dancey than before, these songs are no less ferocious and vituperative' (RifRaf, 10/2010); 'They are a musical outburst, a thuggish holler across the street and a blast from a faulty gas-main. They make absolutely no sense whatsoever yet make every one of your senses stand up on end - you can smell the intensity, taste the scratched guitar-hooks and feel the rhythms. With an open mind, I think you'll like a bit of Blurt. They create ear-bleeding, hip-wiggling and bollock-pummelling breakbeats across this bang-on 10-song blast. I love Plunge with its disorientating riffing and Tom Waits-esque croonings of "Give me an 'A' to float on". I adore the short-sharp burst of Hat and the topical The Bells with the analytical lyric, "They did not give their lives, they sold them to keep the bells of Wootton Bassett tolling". Every track is a hypnotic cacophony of latent energy and renewed vigour that sounds like a band just starting out, not stamping their 30-year old authority all over your woofers (neverenoughnotes.co.uk, 08/2010); 'Renowned for his intense live performance and intriguing minimal rhythmics, Milton has maintained an enthusiastic audience for the past thirty years. His latest releases sounds no less aggravated and compelling than notable works, In Berlin and The Fish Needs A Bike. The sheer command and lunacy of Once More or Plunge (with its unsettling refrain “Yes! I hear they've invented the wheel since you've been away from me...”) retains all the inspiration of a genuine artist. Credit where it's due – producer Sam Britton presents this unique noise amidst its untethered chaos yet manages to ply it with the sophistication and clarity of a gutter worn diamond' (The Big Takeover, 09/2010); 'No mere nod to past glories, Milton stands back and allows his band air to breathe, with whip smart producer Sam Britton's fresh electronics placing Cut It! firmly in the Now' (Trust, 10/2010); 'Opening with Once More, this comeback CD by the best punkjazzcombo ever kicks off as though the last 25 years never happened. Rarely has new music sounded this intense, or this direct' (Westzeit, 10/2010); 'Blurt here sound happily energized, with Milton's eye and ear for aggressive absurdities and his own vision of the world clearly intact' (AllMusicGuide, 10/2010)


THE FACTORY RECORDINGS (LTMCD 2526) £10
Digitally remastered, this 12 track CD combines all four Blurt tracks from A Factory Quartet (FACT 24) in 1980 with the live album In Berlin, originally scheduled for release on Factory Benelux in 1981. The booklet features archive Blurt images and detailed sleevenotes. Musicians are Ted Milton, Jake Milton, Pete Creese. Full tracklist: Puppeteer, Dyslexia, Some Come, Benighted + (live) Cherry Blossom Polish, My Mother Was a Friend of an Enemy of the People, Puppeteers of the World Unite, Dyslexia Rules, Get, Tube Plane, Paranoid Blues, Ubu.

Reviews: "28 years on, this compilation of Blurt's Factory tracks fits in more easily with the current wave of avant junk stylists. Come twitch awhile to this most deliciously twisted of national treasures" (Plan B, 9/2008); "It's all-purpose chaos; it's brilliant! Where can you go when you're that far gone?" (NME, April 1980); 'It captures brilliantly what they're all about, all the rough and tumble and rough tumble spilling gloriously out of the speakers with ten times the energy and attack of a studio album' (Melody Maker, 4/1981); "A chaotic brand of funk from a funny farm" (Sounds, August 1980); "Blurt are the most appropriately named group encountered for some considerable period of time... It's the incompleteness of their music which provides its grab. Don't just listen, participate (great music for bass players to practice to). As Brilleaux would say, eight bars on the bass" (NME, January 1981); "The four tracks from A Factory Quartet are perfectly paired with the live album In Berlin, released the same year. The calmer early tracks already show some genius, and are a perfect introduction to the more energetic live recording. This was a great concert, very much between genres - moodier than punk, rawer than jazz and psychedelia, more avant-garde than rock - with the complex and simply perfectly combined" (www.psychemusic.org, 11/2008); "A welcome reminder of the forward thinking of both Blurt and Factory in a time when it was it was so sorely needed" (www.blurt-online.com, 11/2008))


BLURT + SINGLES (LTMCD 2543) £10
This digitally remastered CD features the first (eponymous) studio album by Blurt, originally released in May 1982, together with tracks released on classic Blurt singles between 1980 and 1985, including extended funky workout Spill the Beans. The booklet includes detailed liner notes and archive images, while the disc runs for a full 79 minutes. Full tracklist: My Mother Was a Friend of an Enemy of the People, Get, The Fish Needs a Bike, This Is My Royal Wedding Souvenir, Dog Save My Sole, Trees, Physical Fitness, Empty Vessels, Play the Game, The Ruminant Plinth, Arthur, Spill the Beans, The Ruminant Plinth (12" version), White Line Fever, Sharks of Paradise, Nomads

Reviews: 'Blurt! Noise preferred to poise' (NME, 1982); 'Recorded live in the studio, the ragged guitar chords and Milton’s waiting vocals and sax playing still sound fresh and vital. Despite being linked to the no wave dance/funk of James Chance, Blurt now sound like early pioneers of the genrebending musical cavalry charge of John Zorn, the sonic torque of This Heat and – amazingly – Ornette Coleman’s Prime Time. Their debut album, also presented here, is chock-full of collapsed melody, compelling rhythm and sour candyfloss. An acquired taste that is well worth acquiring' (Record Collector, 01/2010); 'Blurt + Singles benefits in retrospect by being the type of thing that seems like it could have been written and recorded at any number of points over the last few decades. Milton's skronky/sleazy sax work had few immediate reference points at the time, being neither straightforward bar-band parping nor crazed avant garde mayhem while his entertaining rambles and vocal riffs equally veered between singing and theatrical delivery. The seven-track self-titled album, originally released in 1982, showcases more of Blurt's instrumental side, with songs like Trees and the comparatively wordier The Ruminant Plinth taking longer than most of the band's previous studio work to let the trio, including original members Pete Creese and Jake Milton, explore more spare but relentless rhythms over which Milton makes some of his most extreme sax work' (AllMusic Guide, 2010)


PAGAN STRINGS (LTMCD 2564) download
Download-only edition of the sixth studio album by Blurt, originally issued in 1992. Full tracklist: Phone Monika, Alouette, Slow Boat, Bright Red White and Blue, Authors, Violin Sherbet, La clef des champs, Bird Trigger, Machina Machina, Universal Love Song, Planet You, Chouettes, Amour de ma vie, Mesopotamia, End of An Era, People Can Fly, People Can Fly (2)

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