Album: The Willows
Artist: Belbury Poly
Born: Newport, South Wales
Released: January 2005
Genre: Hauntology
Boards of Canada were very much the forerunners of the hauntology genre, a musical offshoot that's flourished in the past decade. One of the labels at the heart of this genre is Ghost Box, set up in 2004 by Julian House and Jim Jupp, two school friends from South Wales. Julian House had been active in the music industry long before establishing Ghost Box, creating the artwork for various album covers, including Primal Scream's XTRMNTR, and also directing musical videos such as Kill All Hippies. His unique artistic aesthetic is evident in many of the album covers of Ghost Box releases (which often look old school scientific textbooks), while he also records music under the alias, The Focus Group. Likewise, Jim Jupp records under various aliases, one of which is Belbury Poly. I developed a real fascination for Ghost Box music a few years back and went on an extensive listening binge. The Willows was one of the most distinctive, eerie and compelling LPs I came across, mixing elements of old British folk (or library music), snippets of public information films, electronic textures and science fiction. Both House and Jupp share a love of Hammer Horror, strange 70s TV shows like The Owl Service and weird British science fiction writers like Algernon Blackwood and Arthur Machen. It was one of Blackwood's short stories, The Willows, that inspired the title of this record.
Simon Reynolds argues that hauntology is a uniquely British alternative to hip hop, in its use of sampling and stitching together music from different eras via electronic trickery. Caermaen is one of several great examples on The Willows of this specifically British sound, using a 1908 sample of English folk musician Joseph Taylor singing Bold William Taylor, reworked by Jupp so that the altered speed and pitch creates an entirely new melody. I heard Julian House DJing at the Green Man Festival in 2014, in between talks by Peter Howell of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop (another inspiration for Ghost Box music) and Bob Stanley, and hearing samples of old British voices in the modern context of electronic music had a really jarring but powerful effect on my brain. This tension is one of the beauties of the music. Belbury Poly releases have a more song-oriented structure than most other Ghost Box music, and this is one reason I love The Willows, which is also more accessible and melodic than some other hauntology records, which can feel a little dry and academic. Highlights for me are the title track, which has a wonky electronic sound reminiscent of Aphex Twin, Farmer's Angle and Insect Prospectus. There's even a flirtation with dub on The Absolute Elsewhere, while the influence of Brian Eno and ambient music is evident throughout. Check it out; this really is some of the most original and exciting music to come out of the UK in the past decade.
Boards of Canada were very much the forerunners of the hauntology genre, a musical offshoot that's flourished in the past decade. One of the labels at the heart of this genre is Ghost Box, set up in 2004 by Julian House and Jim Jupp, two school friends from South Wales. Julian House had been active in the music industry long before establishing Ghost Box, creating the artwork for various album covers, including Primal Scream's XTRMNTR, and also directing musical videos such as Kill All Hippies. His unique artistic aesthetic is evident in many of the album covers of Ghost Box releases (which often look old school scientific textbooks), while he also records music under the alias, The Focus Group. Likewise, Jim Jupp records under various aliases, one of which is Belbury Poly. I developed a real fascination for Ghost Box music a few years back and went on an extensive listening binge. The Willows was one of the most distinctive, eerie and compelling LPs I came across, mixing elements of old British folk (or library music), snippets of public information films, electronic textures and science fiction. Both House and Jupp share a love of Hammer Horror, strange 70s TV shows like The Owl Service and weird British science fiction writers like Algernon Blackwood and Arthur Machen. It was one of Blackwood's short stories, The Willows, that inspired the title of this record.
Simon Reynolds argues that hauntology is a uniquely British alternative to hip hop, in its use of sampling and stitching together music from different eras via electronic trickery. Caermaen is one of several great examples on The Willows of this specifically British sound, using a 1908 sample of English folk musician Joseph Taylor singing Bold William Taylor, reworked by Jupp so that the altered speed and pitch creates an entirely new melody. I heard Julian House DJing at the Green Man Festival in 2014, in between talks by Peter Howell of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop (another inspiration for Ghost Box music) and Bob Stanley, and hearing samples of old British voices in the modern context of electronic music had a really jarring but powerful effect on my brain. This tension is one of the beauties of the music. Belbury Poly releases have a more song-oriented structure than most other Ghost Box music, and this is one reason I love The Willows, which is also more accessible and melodic than some other hauntology records, which can feel a little dry and academic. Highlights for me are the title track, which has a wonky electronic sound reminiscent of Aphex Twin, Farmer's Angle and Insect Prospectus. There's even a flirtation with dub on The Absolute Elsewhere, while the influence of Brian Eno and ambient music is evident throughout. Check it out; this really is some of the most original and exciting music to come out of the UK in the past decade.
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