Martin Agterberg
Schiedam Center Opus 2
Hong Kong Connection
Andromeda Spaceway Patrol
Robotly Yours Forever
Classical Votage 220
China Ballerina

Time for another installment of “Let’s try to write a lot about someone I know little about and can’t find anything (in English) about on the internet!” My favorite thing to do.

Martin Agterberg is a Dutch musician who seemed to be the most prolific as a solo artist during the 1980s, releasing three albums between 1982 and 1988. I’ve only been able to track down his first two, however; 1982’s Flyer and his wonderfully titled 1984 release Synshine. Flyer is good, a solid electronic album full of catchy hooks and fun sounds, but Synshine is really where Agterberg, well, shines. On Flyer, he’s only using a Korg Polysix, with a slight assist from a Korg Monopoly KR-55 Rhythmbox. He stretches that synth a long way, but all the songs use similar sounds, and it at times comes off as a little simple since its so minimal with its audio pallet.

On Synshine, Agterberg was able to diversify his sounds with the help of a wider selection of synthesizers, adding several other Korg goodies to his line-up of electronic doodads and doohickeys. He’s working largely with the same sounds still, but they got more going on behind them. The beats are bit more complex, and there are added effects and embellishments that just make the songs sound, I don’t know, more lively and entertaining. It has an oompf to it.

Throughout both albums, Agterberg is definitely going for a “space” vibe. These are songs that all play in the perfect 80s sci-fi B-movie of my dreams. In my mind, this is the soundtrack to Ice Pirates or The Black Hole. The song titles themselves certainly suggest that’s what Agterberg was shooting for as well, with great names like “Andromeda Space Patrol,” “The Back of Beyond,” and my personal favorite, “Robotly Yours Forever.”

(Was Martin Agterberg the first person to turn the word “robot” into an adverb? Maybe!)

Despite Agterbeg’s obviously lofty ambitions for these songs, even the most bombastic and over-the-top ones still come off as just a little kitschy. But that’s another reason why I dig them so much. The drum machines make them sound a little corny, the digital keyboards give it a dated feel, but I feel both give the albums character. In their limitations I find charm.

I feel that the closest Agterberg comes to achieving a bigger, booming sound (on the two albums of his I have at least) is with “Classical Voltage 220,” an obvious homage/pastiche of classical music that opens with an absolute wall of sound that would make Beethoven in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure happy. With its faux-strings and harpsichord-inspired sounds, it’s obvious that Agterberg is going for Baroque with this one (sorry), and the results are fantastic. Sames goes for “Schiedman Centre Opus 2” (which might be based on a classical piece). Total Wendy Carlos vibes.

On both albums, Agterberg doesn’t slow things down that often. He prefers to use sequenced beats and drum machines to create more upbeat music. But on both albums he does knock down the tempo for a few more sedate numbers, and those often work as well. The similarly named “Hong Kong Connection” and “China Ballerina” rely far more on harmonies and melodies than beats and bounce, and they’re both soothing, relaxing numbers that are good segues between the more fast-paced tracks. The faux-“Asian” hooks of “China Ballerina” also lend themselves well to Agterberg’s electronics. It has a real YMO feel.

Again, I can’t find damn near anything bout Agterberg online. All I’ve found is from his Discogs page. Apparently he was in a few bands before he went solo, but didn’t seem to do much afterwards. I did discover a Dutch webpage that had a brief write-up about him, and from there I was able to find out that he now works as a composer for commercials in Europe. With his talent for writing brief, catchy, melodies that can grab your attention, I feel like that’s probably a good fit for him.

The above tracks are a smattering of tunes from the two Agterberg albums I have. Both are vinyl rips, since I don’t think that these records ever came out on CD (or digitally for that matter). I might share more in the future, but honestly, I’d rather his work get a proper digital re-release so I don’t have to. This stuff is too great to vanish into the analog ether.