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 Guinea-Bissau and from Jakarta.
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 1968 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Philadelphia and Shanghai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lille 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 synthesizer sounds with much patience.
I was there when Holger Czukay 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 Basic Channel to the rock kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 The Leaves. All the underground hits.
All Fifty Foot Hose tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Lou Christie record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Danielle Patucci record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a linndrum.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Blake Baxter,
Steve Hackett,
Liliput,
The Birthday Party,
Jandek,
Pulsallama,
Minnie Riperton,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Barry Ungar,
The Blues Magoos,
Can,
Nik Kershaw,
Pussy Galore,
cv313,
The Busters,
Radiopuhelimet,
the Association,
Dual Sessions,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Excepter,
Sällskapet,
The Names,
Duran Duran,
X-Ray Spex,
Johnny Osbourne,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Hasil Adkins,
Glambeats Corp.,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
The Moody Blues,
Ronnie Foster,
Pantaleimon,
LL Cool J,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Section 25,
New Order,
June Days,
Sarah Menescal,
The Five Americans,
The Gap Band,
Letta Mbulu,
Zapp,
Gang Gang Dance,
Aural Exciters,
Roxy Music,
Deepchord,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Porter Ricks,
Neu!,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
Intrusion,
Sparks,
Frankie Knuckles,
The Zeros,
Marine Girls,
Cecil Taylor,
Don Cherry,
Matthew Halsall,
The Mummies,
Echospace,
Terrestrial Tones,
Public Image Ltd.,
Saccharine Trust,
Terry Callier, Terry Callier, Terry Callier, Terry Callier.
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.