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 St Kitts & Nevis and from Salvador.
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 1961 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Woodstock and Woodstock.
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 1975 at the first Throbbing Gristle practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the organ 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 Manfred Mann's Earth Band to the jazz 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 Sonny Sharrock. All the underground hits.
All Ultimate Spinach tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and a güiro and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Angels of Light record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Doors,
Skriet,
Boredoms,
Goldenarms,
The Zeros,
Icehouse,
Bobby Byrd,
Gabor Szabo,
Malaria!,
Bang On A Can,
Grandmaster Flash,
Minnie Riperton,
Joensuu 1685,
Bizarre Inc.,
David Bowie,
Frankie Knuckles,
Harry Pussy,
Warren Ellis,
The Vogues,
Procol Harum,
Model 500,
Niagra,
Television Personalities,
Fear,
Marvin Gaye,
Fifty Foot Hose,
Echospace,
Soul II Soul,
Half Japanese,
Ohio Players,
Minny Pops,
OOIOO,
Aaron Thompson,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Dorothy Ashby,
T.S.O.L.,
Godley & Creme,
Sparks,
The Motions,
Camouflage,
Grauzone,
Livin' Joy,
Masters at Work,
Buzzcocks,
Basic Channel,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Crime,
Audionom,
The Invisible,
Electric Prunes,
Gerry Rafferty,
Marshall Jefferson,
La Düsseldorf,
Cluster,
Youth Brigade,
Rufus Thomas,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Idris Muhammad,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Bill Wells,
Khruangbin,
Crooked Eye,
The Toasters,
The Black Dice, The Black Dice, The Black Dice, The Black Dice.
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.