Y” is a big album. Although released by Pulsations For You in 2008, it traces back to 2003. Big album why? Sven Swift (aka Bettina Rhymes) compared it to the legendary Eno-Byrne collaboration "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts", and it has also been called one of the best freely released albums overall, which I can only agree with. "Freely released album" is generally necessary, although in this particular case too restrictive a category. The two-pronged branch groove (which in turn has new branch grooves and pods) visible from the plate casing symbolizes the main elements here. One is ethno/world music and the other sharp-angled electronica. "Y" is undoubtedly a masterpiece of experimental electronica/ethno music, a signpost of modern ethno-fusion, although in reality it probably didn't make much of an impact at the release time. Behind XYDZO is a man named Ljekio Ulmar who earns his daily bread by working as a forest ranger in the Karelian nature reserve. He founded the project in 1999 on the ruins of the previous project IR. His assets also include participation in various projects (Eкология Звука, Yoki, Девят) and solo albums. Karelia's close connection with nature is perceptible in the soundscape. The glorious past of Karelian shamans is also related to this. The album is described as follows: "The voice of nature, the noise of the Karelian taiga, the African sun, the flickering of the aurora borealis, and silence and infinity at the same time." But there is something else – the song Alebet (to which someone called Zuzina lends a voice) is a cross between a ballad song and electronica, thereby resembling another Russian band Volga. In addition, vocal samples wrapped up in echo effects have been borrowed from an ancient Icelandic phonograph (in one of the album's most prominent and distinctive tracks, Djug – a drone vector with aggressively motoric pulsations opens a new door to the Universe) and aboriginal cosmogonic patterns have not been left out. In a word, in addition to the content, the album is also the music that literally belongs to the world, geographically speaking. Because of the ethno-futuristic and transcendent greatness, "Y" is not limited to this Blue Globe. In the electronic sound scene you can feel both the Ninja Tune-like synthetic velvet touch and the Warp-like sharpness and twist (Ulmar mentions the record companies hidden behind the adjectives as his main influences, along with ethnographer Glen Velez). The sharp, crackling vibe is perhaps best revealed by the song Tudrahi, which is preceded by the wonderfully catchy Kuyhet. In the song Tulie (is it Tuli?), New Age-style flute arrangements and Afrofuturistic rhythms intersect. Since the album is full of more and less hidden corners, unknown variables each listening time gives a new result. This is the main characteristic of a masterpiece. Also listen to XYDZO's other two albums “Untitled”, and “Timber: Old Lumber”.