Deadly Outlaw by CRZKNY

In 2017, outlines released just the second EP in its catalog. It was one of three cassettes that initiated the groove series and was dedicated to the Japanese footwork producers responsible for creating a new reduced version of the Chicago-based musical genre. The author of the aforementioned EP was CRZKNY, a leading figure in the Japanese footwork scene, who has been consistently creating his highly distinctive and radical musical project for more than a decade. His music, along with the work of DJ Fulltono and Skip Club Orchestra, was an extremely important influence on the initial direction of the outlines. In 2025, CRZKNY returns to the label with a new album.

“Deadly Outlaw” is an album featuring eight tracks that are a kind of meditation and reflection on techno by the Japanese producer. The starting point here is the work of such iconic figures of the techno scene as Jeff Mills, Richie Hawtin with his Plastikman project and Basic Channel. CRZKNY, however, does it in his own way, embedding the classic foundations of minimal and dub techno on a 160 bpm engine.

The structure of the album is divided into two parts. The first is the tracks in the TR-01-TR-04 section, which on the one hand recall the spatiality of Plastikman's recordings and Jeff Mills' classic loops, but with carefully caught-up layers full of rasps, murmurs and crackles, they create a hypnotic and disturbing listening experience.

In the second part of the album (TR-05-TR-08), CRZKNY evokes the spirit of the music of other iconic figures Moritz von Oswald and Mark Ernestus. Their Basic Channel project in the '90s of the twentieth century revolutionized the sound of techno, which both producers filtered through the Jamaican sonic tradition. Pushed to 160-bpm, CRZKNY's tracks still have a heavily reduced character, but space and reverb come into the forefront.

Each successive CRZKNY release manages to surprise. Whether it's minimalistic gabba or ironic footwork sampledelia, the Japanese producer's music always offers an intense hybrid extreme.

outlines is a searching label. It starts with Chicago Footwork and aims at new forms, outlines and intuitions.

guides, is the more frivolous branch of outlines, where releases are characterised by greater freedom of form.

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