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 Somalia and from Portland.
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 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Accra and Toronto.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Bologna 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 1980 at the first Cybotron practice in a loft in Detroit.
I was working on the sitar sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Beasts of Bourbon to the crunk kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 Amon Düül. All the underground hits.
All This Heat tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Maleditus Sound record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal techno hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a mellotron and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Desert Stars record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Pussy Galore,
Minnie Riperton,
The New Christs,
Bill Near,
New Order,
Lalann,
Tears for Fears,
Quando Quango,
Joe Smooth,
The Busters,
Skaos,
La Düsseldorf,
Wire,
The Black Dice,
The J.B.'s,
Dawn Penn,
DNA,
Terrestrial Tones,
Matthew Bourne,
OOIOO,
MC5,
Judy Mowatt,
Soulsonic Force,
Average White Band,
Reagan Youth,
The Vogues,
Mandrill,
Oneida,
The Doors,
Max Romeo,
Kerri Chandler,
Funkadelic,
The Beau Brummels,
Barclay James Harvest,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Television,
Guru Guru,
Grandmaster Flash,
Andrew Hill,
Lakeside,
The Offenders,
kango's stein massive,
The Doobie Brothers,
Nils Olav,
Bronski Beat,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
EPMD,
Morten Harket,
the Slits,
Derrick Morgan,
Don Cherry,
The Cure,
Eve St. Jones,
Flipper,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Bush Tetras,
Cheater Slicks,
Von Mondo,
John Cale,
Tropical Tobacco,
Ronan,
Sam Rivers,
Marshall Jefferson, Marshall Jefferson, Marshall Jefferson, Marshall Jefferson.
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.