Infinitely Losing My Edge
Yeah, I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge.
The kids are coming up from behind.
I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge to the kids from Iceland and from Cairo.
But I was there.
I was there in 1977.
I was there at the first Zapp show in Hamilton.
I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge to the kids whose footsteps I hear when they get on the decks.
I'm losing my edge to the internet seekers who can tell me every member of every good group from 1962 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Cairo and Columbus.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Bologna kids in little jackets and borrowed nostalgia for the unremembered nineties.
I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge.
I can hear the footsteps every night on the decks.
But I was there.
I was there in 1970 at the first Onyeabor practice in a loft in Enugu.
I was working on the synthesizer sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers started up his first band.
I told him, "Don't do it that way. You'll never make a dime."
I was there.
I was the first guy playing Nils Olav to the funk kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
Everybody thought I was crazy.
We all know.
I was there.
I was there.
I've never been wrong.
But I'm losing my edge to better-looking people with better ideas and more talent.
And they're actually really, really nice.
I'm losing my edge.
I heard you have a compilation of every good song ever done by anybody.
Every great song by Yellowson. All the underground hits.
All Chris & Cosey tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Gap Band record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a snare and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Unrelated Segments record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Archie Shepp,
Sarah Menescal,
Byron Stingily,
The J.B.'s,
Henry Cow,
Q and Not U,
F. McDonald,
Rites of Spring,
the Normal,
Bootsy Collins,
Marmalade,
Lucky Dragons,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
Lightning Bolt,
the Bar-Kays,
Ronan,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Jeff Lynne,
E-Dancer,
The Angels of Light,
Judy Mowatt,
Public Enemy,
Zero Boys,
Adolescents,
Eric Dolphy,
Mandrill,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Amazonics,
Crash Course in Science,
Sexual Harrassment,
Slave,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Blake Baxter,
Angry Samoans,
Mary Jane Girls,
The Move,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Glenn Branca,
London Community Gospel Choir,
The Vogues,
Von Mondo,
The Music Machine,
Simply Red,
The Young Rascals,
Mission of Burma,
Joey Negro,
Todd Terry,
Boz Scaggs,
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Faust,
Andrew Hill,
John Holt,
DJ Style,
Soft Cell,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Cecil Taylor,
Scan 7,
Panda Bear,
Jerry Gold Smith,
The Litter, The Litter, The Litter, The Litter.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.