Belbury Poly is the studio band of Ghost Box Records co-founder Jim Jupp. Jupp is the main composer and producer and also plays synth, keyboards and guitar. Other members are session musicians, that have included: Christopher Budd on bass and lead guitar, Jim Musgrave on drums, James Allen on drums, David Sharp on acoustic guitar and Cate Brooks on piano.
Sound Belbury Poly's sound is characterised as a kind of upbeat, electronic and rustic prog rock. Influences, range from old library music and TV soundtracks to keyboard driven 1970s prog rock, folk and Krautrock.
Jupp has spoken about Belbury Poly and the other artists on Ghost Box as sounding like the misremembered past of a parallel world,Society of the spectral , The Wire no. 276, November 2006 as well as acknowledging a debt to the author Arthur Machen. The name references the fictional town of Belbury, created by the author C.S. Lewis in his novel That Hideous Strength.
Biography Jim Jupp has released EPs, singles and six albums on Ghost Box under the name of Belbury Poly, and has released a dark ambient album for the label under the moniker Eric Zann. He is also a member of The Belbury Circle along with Cate Brooks (of The Advisory Circle) and occasional collaborator, John Foxx In 2019 he co-wrote and produced the music and spoken word album Chanctonbury Rings with Justin Hopper and Sharron Kraus. He has recorded library tracks for KPM, BMG and Lo-Editions. He has remixed tracks for several artists including John Foxx and Bill Ryder-Jones (The Coral). The track "The Willows" taken from the first Belbury Poly album of the same name was reworked by Paul Weller as "Earth Beat" for his 2020 album On Sunset. The debut EP by Belbury Poly, Farmer’s Angle was included in an Electronic Sound magazine feature, A History of Electronic Music in 75 Records.
Discography Albums and EPs Title Format Label Catalogue Number Year Farmer's Angle 3" CD EP/DL Ghost Box GBX001 2004 The Willows CD/LP/DL Ghost Box GBX003 2005 The Owl's Map CD/DL Ghost Box GBX007 2006 From an Ancient Star CD/DL Ghost Box GBX011 2009Farmer's Angle (Revised Edition) CD/10"/DL Ghost Box GBX014 2010The Belbury Tales CD/LP/DL Ghost Box GBX016 2012 New Ways Out CD/LP/DL Ghost Box GBX024 2016 The Gone Away CD/LP/DL Ghost Box GBX035 2020 The Path CD/LP/DL Ghost Box GBX043 2023SorceryCD/LP/DLBelbury MusicBM10LP2026
Singles As Title Format Catalogue Number Year Belbury Poly and Moon Wiring Club Study Series 01: Youth and Recreation 7"/DL GBX701 2010 Belbury Poly and Mordant Music Study Series 03: Welcome to Godalming 7"/DL GBX703 2010 Belbury Poly and The Advisory Circle Study Series 08: Inversions 7"/DL GBX708 2012 Belbury Poly and Spacedog Study Series 10: Message and Method 7"/DL GBX710 2013 Pye Corner Audio with Belbury Poly Other Voices 05: Machines are Obsolete/Pathways 7"/DL GBX715 2015 Sharron Kraus with Belbury Poly Other Voices 10: Something out of Nothing 7"/DL GBX720 2018
Album appearances Album Title Album Artist Label Catalogue Number Year Ley LineJustin Hopper Bandcamp self-released 2014 Shirley Inspired: A Tribute to Shirley Collins Various Artists Earth EARTHLP003 2015 Folklore of Plants Volume 1 Various Artists Folklore Tapes 2017 Chanctonbury Rings Justin Hopper, Sharron Kraus and Belbury Poly Ghost Box GBX033 2019 Intermission Various Artists Ghost Box GBXD008 2020
Remixes Track Title Original Artist Album, Single, EP title Label Catalogue Number Year Taxi Negro (Black Cab Mix) Tremolo Audio Visitas Mil Records MRCD009 2008 Ghost Office (Remixed by Belbury Poly) Xylitol Xylitol Music as played by Other People self-released 2010 Escape Hatch Bernard Fevre The Strange World of Bernard Fevre Remixes Universal NJ9048 2010 And The Cuckoo Comes To Belbury The Advisory Circle Mind How You Go (Revised Edition) Ghost Box GBX013 2010 Lights And Offerings (Belbury Poly Mix) Mirrors The White EP Skint SKINT216ID 2011 Summerland (Belbury Poly Mix) John Foxx and the Maths The Shape of Things Metamatic META29CD 2011 If... (Belbury Poly Mix) Bill Ryder-Jones If... Remixes Domino DS061 2012 Hobby Horse The Memory Band Further Navigations Static Caravan Van 272 2014 Broken Folk Seatman and Powell Broken Folk KS Audio KSA 008 2018 Something Out of Nothing Sharron Kraus Other Voices 10 Ghost Box GBX720 2018
The Belbury Circle (Belbury Poly and The Advisory Circle) Discography Title Format Label Catalogue Number Year Empty Avenues 10" EP/CD EP/DL Ghost Box GBX019 2013 Outward Journeys CD/LP/DL Ghost Box GBX029 2017
References
External links Belbury Poly on Ghost Box Quietus Interview with Julian House on Ghost Box The Sunday Times article on contemporary electronic music, including Ghost Box and Belbury Poly Interview with Jim Jupp by The Haunted Generation Blog