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 Switzerland and from Philadelphia.
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 1960 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Glasgow and Tokyo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Taipei 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 arpeggiator 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 Talk Talk to the techno kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 Jesper Dahlbäck. All the underground hits.
All Iggy Pop tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Excepter record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal crunk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Y Pants record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a chamberlin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Juan Atkins,
Television Personalities,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
Moby Grape,
Alphaville,
Delon & Dalcan,
Kas Product,
Terry Callier,
Sight & Sound,
Soul II Soul,
Depeche Mode,
The Victims,
Mad Mike,
Boogie Down Productions,
Tom Boy,
KRS-One,
The Slackers,
Cymande,
X-101,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Lakeside,
The Mojo Men,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Q and Not U,
Connie Case,
Graham Central Station,
Bronski Beat,
Anthony Braxton,
Amon Düül II,
X-102,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Easy Going,
Traffic Nightmare,
Junior Murvin,
The Associates,
Black Sheep,
Intrusion,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Peter & Gordon,
The Zeros,
DJ Style,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Gregory Isaacs,
H. Thieme,
Quadrant,
Marcia Griffiths,
Bad Manners,
Sun Ra,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
The Index,
China Crisis,
Mary Jane Girls,
The Misunderstood,
Animal Collective,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Wighnomy Brothers & Robag Wruhme,
the Human League,
Icehouse,
The Monochrome Set,
Donny Hathaway,
Jeff Mills, Jeff Mills, Jeff Mills, Jeff Mills.
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.