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 Uruguay and from Lille.
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 1966 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Johannesburg and Spokane.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lagos 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 1983 at the first Lewis practice in a loft in Vancouver.
I was working on the güiro sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Juan Atkins to the funk kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 Gabor Szabo. All the underground hits.
All Moby Grape tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Yazoo 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 organ and a guitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bang on a Can All-Stars record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Grey Daturas,
Silicon Teens,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Aaron Thompson,
Nick Fraelich,
The Buckinghams,
KRS-One,
Boogie Down Productions,
Adolescents,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
the Germs,
Half Japanese,
The Grass Roots,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
In Retrospect,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Kayak,
The Knickerbockers,
Drexciya,
Chrome,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
Scrapy,
Maurizio,
Bizarre Inc.,
Pulsallama,
Dorothy Ashby,
World's Most,
The Detroit Cobras,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
June of 44,
The American Breed,
Q and Not U,
Gabor Szabo,
Pagans,
Swans,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Anthony Braxton,
Radio Birdman,
Roy Ayers,
Fad Gadget,
Public Enemy,
Pylon,
Brand Nubian,
The Dirtbombs,
Skriet,
The Young Rascals,
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud,
Inner City,
Outsiders,
The Birthday Party,
Todd Terry,
The Barracudas,
Radiohead,
Siglo XX,
Clear Light,
Steve Hackett,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
E-Dancer,
Alison Limerick, Alison Limerick, Alison Limerick, Alison Limerick.
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.