Back in the day, drums were used as signals for festivities and war because their sounds travelled the furthest. Azu Tiwaline has long understood that. A master in the dark arts of percussion, she makes deep and profound percussive music that seems to communicate forgotten rituals from centuries past. Her sound is dense, as if pulled from the depths of the Sahara desert in Tunisia, yet still feels spacious thanks to polyrhythmic contortions and sparse, elegant melodies.

Her productions largely fall into the confines of percussive techno, but unlike the genre's springier variants, her dubby textures and psychedelic rhythms command seriousness and move with immensity. Her Livity Sound debut, the Magnetic Service EP from 2020, connected Amazigh music with dub and techno and is a masterclass in restraint and hypnosis. Her latest release, The Fifth Dream, continues to showcase her skills in balancing light and dark tones using field recordings from her home in Tunisia's El Djerid desert, minimal ambient techno and haunting notes.

Mirroring her discography, this RA Podcast features plenty of twisted rhythms, trippy techno and straightforward club cuts. Created for movement rather than hypnosis, these selections show off a different side of her drum palette—perky breaks and syncopated kicks—wrapped in her usual weighty atmospheres.

@azu-tiwaline

Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/906