From cassette tapes and K3 to 350 records — how the Bollenstreek bred one of its most eclectic collectors.
M.B. Rolvers, Lege Batterij, BASSDOG — the list is long; to us, he’s simply Martijn: order picker and packer at Vinyleers. As you might have guessed, these names represent just a selection of his musical projects. Someone consumed by music both on and off the work floor deserves a little background check.
How did our twenty-two-year-old Martijn Benjamin Rolvers move from the Bollenstreek to Burial, where does such a journey begin?
The audiophile aspect of this story might be genetic. At home, his father tinkered with sound a lot and even built speakers. With a bit of luck, these were tested at high volume with You Can Call Me Al by Paul Simon.
You might think that few children born after the 90s grew up with physical audio carriers, but young Martijn listened to cassette tapes of Bassie & Adriaan (understandable, as the show was secretly packed with tracks by artists like Mike Oldfield and Vangelis).
There were also Hitzone CDs and a brief obsession with K3, after which the path was cleared for electronic music: Avicii, Martin Garrix, and other EDM from that era blasted through his headphones.
When the coronavirus suddenly appeared, many people embraced a hobby craze. Having moved from the Bollenstreek to Haarlemmermeer, nothing could stop him from further expanding his musical journey: in a store that was about to get rid of all its records, he discovered vinyl! The first record he bought was Audio, Video, Disco by Justice.
His collection now includes around 350 records. French touch, ambient, house, vaporwave, pop, Deadmau5, Mr. Oizo, Burial, or Aphex Twin: an eclectic collection with the electronic element as a common thread. This eclecticism is also reflected in the diversity of his own music. For an overwhelming dose of memetechno, you can turn to his collective Lege Batterij (a collaboration project with his best friend Isa). For a trip somewhere between dreamy IDM and ambient, check out the album Mariposa by M.B. Rolvers. And if you’re in the mood for some bass and ravey hyperpop vibes, listen to BASSDOG. With the latter project, Martijn’s music has even been released on vinyl, CD, and cassette.
Back to the core of this section: the record. I thought it would be fun to ask him to bring a stack of his favorites. A beautiful row of Martijn essentials appeared on the shelf:
Hybrid Theory by Linkin Park, for example, opened a new world for him with its combination of rock and electronica.
The sound design of hyperpop debut by SOPHIE was and still is a major inspiration for his own music, where you might catch a wink to the late artist’s work if you listen closely.
Via the Dutch vaporwave (the electronic elevator music of internet culture) LP by 猫 シ Corp (read: Cat System Corp), named OASYS 博物館, we pass Hyperdrama by Justice from 2024, the first Justice album whose release he consciously experienced.
The beautiful, dreamy ambient classic Selected Ambient Works II by Aphex Twin naturally couldn’t be missing, leading us to the last in the series.
I asked Martijn the following:
Suppose a UFO flies over your house and lands, and an alien steps out and asks you which record to take to their planet as an exhibit for their fellow aliens to showcase the beautiful phenomenon of music?
His answer was almost obvious: it had to be Discovery by Daft Punk, the classic of which he owns the Japanese version with an alternative cover.
A fitting conclusion. Afterward, we decided to spin a record. The needle drops on Justice, and we wondered whether to pronounce it in English or French. Anyway, time for music.
