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Playful, spooky, and surreal, Belbury Poly is the primary musical project of Jim Jupp, co-founder of the revered British label Ghost Box along with graphic designer/musician Julian House. Blending nostalgic yet futuristic influences such as library music, prog rock, pastoral psych-folk, and the early electronic experiments of Raymond Scott and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, Belbury Poly and Ghost Box crafted a singular aesthetic, often dubbed "hauntology" by the press, which made a major impact on early 21st century underground culture. While early Belbury Poly releases such as 2004's The Willows were primarily electronic efforts crafted by Jupp himself, later recordings like 2012's The Belbury Tales included instrumentation and production by studio musicians such as bassist/guitarist Christopher Budd, drummer Jim Musgrave, and Ghost Box regular Jon Brooks. Jupp has additionally collaborated with Brooks as the Belbury Circle.
Ghost Box was quietly launched in 2004 with Belbury Poly's debut EP Farmer's Angle, first released as a limited mini CD-R. Full-length The Willows followed shortly, and the label began building up its catalog, initially consisting of releases by various projects involving Jupp, House, and Brooks. Ouroborindra, recorded by Jupp under the pseudonym Eric Zann, appeared in 2005. Two more Belbury Poly full-lengths, The Owl's Map (2006) and From an Ancient Star (2009), arrived by the end of the decade, as word spread about the mysterious label and its cult following grew. Ghost Box began issuing vinyl in 2010, and Belbury Poly started releasing collaborative singles with acts such as Moon Wiring Club and Mordant Music, in addition to issuing an expanded edition of Farmer's Angle.
The Belbury Tales, sporting more of a psychedelic, guitar-driven sound than the project's past releases, was issued to much acclaim in 2012. Collaborative 7" singles with the Advisory Circle and Pye Corner Audio preceded Belbury Poly's fifth full-length, 2016's New Ways Out. Moving in the synth pop direction previously explored with Empty Avenues, their 2013 collaboration with John Foxx, the Belbury Circle, released their debut full-length, Outward Journeys, in 2017. In 2019, Belbury Poly backed narrator Justin Hopper and folk musician Sharron Kraus on Chanctonbury Rings, an album based on performances of Hopper's 2017 book The Old Weird Albion. ~ Paul Simpson, Rovi
