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. Stream Platforms: orcd.co/speculativememoriespresave

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