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 South Sudan and from Hong Kong.
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 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Portland and Winnipeg.
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 2001 at the first Tiga practice in a loft in Montreal.
I was working on the spring reverb 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 Joe Smooth to the dance 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 Rhythm & Sound. All the underground hits.
All Art Ensemble Of Chicago tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Black Flag record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk 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 a synthesizer and a 808 and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Girls At Our Best! record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Erasure,
Model 500,
Althea and Donna,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Eric B and Rakim,
Arthur Verocai,
Fela Kuti,
Wighnomy Brothers & Robag Wruhme,
JFA,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Amon Düül II,
Fluxion,
Supertramp,
David Axelrod,
Nas,
Can,
Matthew Halsall,
Scratch Acid,
Tomorrow,
The Cure,
The Flesh Eaters,
Man Parrish,
The American Breed,
Moebius,
Big Daddy Kane,
Faust,
Bootsy Collins,
Jesper Dahlback,
Sun Ra,
Gerry Rafferty,
Tropical Tobacco,
The Real Kids,
Bob Dylan,
Max Romeo,
Los Fastidios,
Barry Ungar,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Johnny Clarke,
Anakelly,
Glambeats Corp.,
Crooked Eye,
K-Klass,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
the Germs,
Tears for Fears,
Adolescents,
Traffic Nightmare,
Kool Moe Dee,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
The Standells,
The Associates,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Chris & Cosey,
Glenn Branca,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Davy DMX,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Quando Quango,
T.S.O.L.,
The Blues Magoos,
Hasil Adkins, Hasil Adkins, Hasil Adkins, Hasil Adkins.
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.