Viktor Orri Árnason & Yair Elazar Glotman - Variations In Void

Label: OJAS Music Released:  November 20, 2026

Variations in Void began in a room on Oranienstraße in Berlin­—a studio once shaped by the late Jóhann Jóhannsson, where the two of us first met. Years later, in the final days before the space was dismantled, we returned to record these improvisations: thirteen microphones, two stringed instruments tuned in scordatura, and a room listening as closely as we were.

What was captured there became the seed of Variations in Void.

In Reykjavík, at Harpa Concert Hall, those intimate recordings opened into new forms through the voices of Reykjavík Orkestra. What remains is a document of two spaces, two cities, and a place that no longer exists—its resonance carried forward in sound.

—Árnason & Glotman, 2026


Viktor Orri Árnason — Violin & Viola
Yair Elazar Glotman — Double bass
Reykjavík Orkestra — String Ensemble



Members of Reykjavík Orkestra:
Violin — Elfa Rún, Rannveig Marta, Sólveig Steinþórsdóttir, Karl James Pestka
Viola — Karl James Pestka, Ásta Pjetusdóttir, Fídel Atli
Cello — Bryndís Halla, Steiney Sigurðar, Unnur Jónsdóttir



All music composed, produced and performed by Árnason & Glotman
Reykjavík Orkestra conducted by Viktor Orri Árnason



Recorded 2020-2022 at Oranienstraße Studios, Berlin & Harpa Hall, Reykjavík
Mixed by Yair Elazar Glotman, Berlin
Mastered & Lacquer Cut by Frederic Stader at Music Matters Mastering, Köln & Mont Analogue, Brussels

Yair Elazar Glotman & Mats Erlandsson - Glory Fades

Label: Xkatedral Released:  January 17, 2025

Glory Fades is a song book written using a common collaborative musical language developed by Yair Elazar Glotman and Mats Erlandsson, building intimate musical spaces, primarily focused on acoustic instrumentation with electronic counterparts contributing light and shade. Throughout the eight songs on the record, each piece unfolds according to its own logic while simultaneously reflecting the overarching tonality of the song book as a whole. The music focuses on the topography outlined by a melodic and harmonic modal framework and the exploration of the negative space found in the decay and in between the notes. There is a tension in this music caused by a reduced and stark emotional expression on the surface and the complex structures hidden underneath, where the harmonic material shimmers and shifts, and tempo and time signature modulates imperceptibly. The instrumentation forms a non-traditional chamber ensemble consisting of plucked and bowed acoustic guitars, zithers, bells, double bass, violin and percussion with additional treatments through manipulated tape and reamplification techniques.

Speculative Memories

Yair Elazar Glotman is a Berlin based composer and experimental sound artist. Having trained in classical double bass and electroacoustic composition, he uses these traditions in combination with improvisation, with particular focus on analogue processes, to create textural and spatial works. In recent years, Glotman has been known for his notable pieces in film and media composition, working closely with influententual late composer Jóhann Jóhannsson on acclaimed titles such as Mandy (2018) and Last and First Men (2019), which he co-composed and produced the score.

Speculative Memories is an introspective dive into memory. Stemming from Glotman's childhood memories, the album is the most personal piece Glotman has ever composed. The project could be pinpointed back to exploring specific memories from his time growing up in a small village in the Galilee, from the perspective of a now Berlin citizen. However, this idea grew into something much more abstract, traversing into the notion that memories are a dynamic, ever evolving piece of material, shaped by time and perspective. Glotman explains, “Memories are elastic forms, so that focusing only on its narrative content can miss the point, which changes over time and perspective. The memory’s essence can shift when you look at it again.” Rather than looking back at a memory by a series of events, Yair began to immerse himself in the abstract feelings attached to these moments, triggered by elements such as taste, smell and sound with some of these moods being dictated by both the present and the past, influenced by time, perspective, relationships and lived experiences. From this idea, Glotman began to create entire worlds, moods and mindsets for each individual track, made from one small moment in time.

Speculative Memories creates a deep, atmospheric world.. From moments of enchanting, swirling strings, chilling vocals, to ambient drone and piercing contrabass, Glotman has a flair for striking such raw emotion, without having to use a single word. The album also features field recordings by Yair of sounds that had made him reminisce, such as the sounds of jackals and dogs howling from his hometown: “every night after sunset, jackals would spend ten minutes howling to each other and all the dogs would bark back”.

On this record, every moment in time and specific sound has been carefully crafted by Glotman and his collaborators as Speculative Memories is made up of varying processes of tape manipulation and analogue tape layering. As he explains: “decisions are made in correlation between time and lived experience. When you make electronic music on DAW, the perspective of time shifts, because you can make a one hour track in two minutes. However, using a tape as I did in this album, if you want to make a ten minute piece with four layers, , you know it will take forty minutes, which adds personal value to the process, or at least makes you think about the value inherent in that time spent. Time gives perspective on whether an idea is worth exploring”. Thus making this project, a recorded performance and documentation of the decision-making process above anything else. The album's accompanying sample library follows a similar approach and techniques.

Speculative Memories is due out October 27th via SA Recordings. The release of this album comes alongside a Spitfire Audio sample library. 

credits

releases October 27, 2022

All music composed, produced and mixed by Yair Elazar Glotman.

Musicians:
Sara Fors - Vocals
Viktor Orri Árnason - Violin, Viola
Mats Erlandsson - Bowed Guitar
Haraldur Þrastarson - Trombone
Yair Elazar Glotman - Contrabass
Mephisto Wunderbar - Tape Manipulation

Mastered by Bo Kondren at Calyx Mastering, Berlin.
Additional Stem Mixing by Tobias Ober at Bonello Studio, Berlin. Recorded at the Mephisto Wunderbar Sound Studio, Berlin.
Cover design by Dennis McInnes & George Edge Photography by Shuka Glotman.

Dedicated to Tami & Shuka Special thanks to Adela, Mats, Sara, James and EMS Elektronmusikstudion.