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 the UAE and from Lagos.
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 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Accra and Halifax.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Tehran 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 1984 at the first Arcadia practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the oboe sounds with much patience.
I was there when David Bowie 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 Soulsonic Force to the funk kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 David McCallum. All the underground hits.
All AZ tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks 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 a guitar and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Robert Wyatt 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?
H. Thieme,
JFA,
The Names,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
Donald Byrd,
Marmalade,
Livin' Joy,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Stiv Bators,
Agitation Free,
Darondo,
Sarah Menescal,
Dawn Penn,
Moebius,
Duran Duran,
Chrome,
Eli Mardock,
Sandy B,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
the Sonics,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
The United States of America,
Jandek,
The Neon Judgement,
Cameo,
Frankie Knuckles,
Mission of Burma,
Sun City Girls,
Sugar Minott,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Tres Demented,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Johnny Osbourne,
The Gladiators,
Crispy Ambulance,
Letta Mbulu,
Fat Boys,
Eric Copeland,
Brand Nubian,
Arcadia,
The Kinks,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
China Crisis,
B.T. Express,
Nation of Ulysses,
Derrick Morgan,
Sonny Sharrock,
10cc,
One Last Wish,
Parry Music,
Glambeats Corp.,
Man Parrish,
Eric Dolphy,
Underground Resistance,
James Chance & The Contortions,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
AZ,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Sixth Finger,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Quantec, Quantec, Quantec, Quantec.
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.