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 Serbia and from Paris.
But I was there.
I was there in 1970.
I was there at the first Onyeabor show in Enugu.
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 1965 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Cairo and Mexico City.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Paris 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 1977 at the first Mistral practice in a loft in Amsterdam.
I was working on the güiro sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 Cheater Slicks to the funk kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 Pole. All the underground hits.
All The Five Americans tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Adolescents record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying an oboe and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Main Source record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a marimba.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Alton Ellis,
Inner City,
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud,
Ludus,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Pierre Henry,
8 Eyed Spy,
MDC,
Boredoms,
La Düsseldorf,
Eurythmics,
Patti Smith,
Eddi Front,
Kurtis Blow,
June Days,
Moss Icon,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Thee Headcoats,
Warren Ellis,
Jeff Lynne,
Rakim,
Letta Mbulu,
Andrew Hill,
Connie Case,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Slave,
Stetsasonic,
The Searchers,
Camouflage,
Harry Pussy,
Skarface,
Animal Collective,
Minnie Riperton,
ABC,
The Neon Judgement,
The Mummies,
Pylon,
Jimmy McGriff,
Model 500,
Gabor Szabo,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Joy Division,
Man Eating Sloth,
Tears for Fears,
Index,
Bill Near,
The Stooges,
Pharoah Sanders,
Ponytail,
Malaria!,
Funky Four + One,
Cal Tjader,
Thompson Twins,
Rites of Spring,
the Germs,
H. Thieme,
Josef K,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Pulsallama,
Minutemen,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Oblivians,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Idris Muhammad, Idris Muhammad, Idris Muhammad, Idris Muhammad.
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.