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 Indonesia and from Delhi.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Selda show in Istanbul.
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 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bremen and Sao Paulo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Johannesburg 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 Tom Verlaine 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 Matthew Halsall to the disco kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Audionom tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Derrick May record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal electroclash 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 a clarinet and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Scientists record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Quantec,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
The Modern Lovers,
Barry Ungar,
Boredoms,
The Litter,
Qualms,
Sonny Sharrock,
Quadrant,
Banda Bassotti,
Rekid,
Barrington Levy,
Negative Approach,
Gichy Dan,
Ponytail,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Heaven 17,
Prince Buster,
Joey Negro,
Q and Not U,
Lalo Schifrin,
Aaron Thompson,
Davy DMX,
Ronnie Foster,
The Smoke,
Don Cherry,
Suicide,
Television,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Bob Dylan,
Unwound,
The Velvet Underground,
Spandau Ballet,
Malaria!,
The Slackers,
Rites of Spring,
The Count Five,
Brand Nubian,
Peter & Gordon,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
Howard Jones,
Al Stewart,
Brass Construction,
Hasil Adkins,
Eli Mardock,
Marc Almond,
Rufus Thomas,
The Mojo Men,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
D'Angelo,
Ossler,
Traffic Nightmare,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Delon & Dalcan,
Con Funk Shun,
Erasure,
Boz Scaggs,
Kayak,
Intrusion,
Gil Scott Heron,
Juan Atkins,
Amon Düül,
Crispian St. Peters,
Simply Red,
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.