Frieze DJ in Residence: Paul Purgas
The DJ and writer shares a selection of his favourite electronic music tracks that help him contemplate the ‘slipperiness of time’
The DJ and writer shares a selection of his favourite electronic music tracks that help him contemplate the ‘slipperiness of time’
For your listening (and dancing) pleasure: a playlist curated for issue 236 of frieze magazine by artist Paul Purgas, featuring a selection of material that draws from the history and present of electronic music.
This playlist includes tracks from artists and musicians who have explored the emancipatory and futuristic potentials of electronic sound, acknowledging global lineages and new sonic forms. The curation connects the paths of electronic music through Asia and the West, while also acknowledging the techno-imaginaries of Detroit and Chicago, where the sound was born, and the parallel continuum of European industrial music.
In a profile on Purgas in the latest issue of frieze magazine, Edna Bonhomme considers the artist’s use of sonic archives to spotlight specific histories that have gone unacknowledged. She notes: ‘Electronic music can be playful, therapeutic or highbrow. More than anything, it can challenge us to step outside of ourselves.’ Purgas’s playlist is a perfect soundtrack for those thinking deeply about non-linearity.
Notably, the playlist also features previously unheard compositions from early Indian electronic musician S.C. Shama. His music, which was recently uncovered in the archives of the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad, will be released as a compilation in September.
Thumbnail: Paul Purgas digitizing tapes at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, 2018. Courtesy: Paul Purgas
Main image: Paul Purgas, Scattered Fire, 2022, installation view. Courtesy: Paul Purgas and Kunstverein Gartenhaus, Vienna
