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 Togo and from Shanghai.
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 1963 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Madrid and Bremen.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Jakarta 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 marimba 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 Hasil Adkins to the techno 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 Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft. All the underground hits.
All Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Lou Reed & John Cale record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a snare and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Black Moon record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
John Cale,
Man Eating Sloth,
Young Marble Giants,
The Barracudas,
Joyce Sims,
Scrapy,
Dorothy Ashby,
Derrick May,
Silicon Teens,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Altered Images,
Black Flag,
Newcleus,
Lindisfarne,
Johnny Clarke,
Chris & Cosey,
Stetsasonic,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Matthew Halsall,
Reuben Wilson,
Nas,
Sixth Finger,
UT,
Janne Schatter,
Cybotron,
Lalann,
The Electric Prunes,
Slick Rick,
Lower 48,
A Flock of Seagulls,
The Names,
Avey Tare,
Model 500,
Scott Walker,
Morten Harket,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Ralphi Rosario,
Reagan Youth,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Faraquet,
Echospace,
Can,
Barrington Levy,
The Durutti Column,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Rod Modell,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Moss Icon,
Joensuu 1685,
Donny Hathaway,
Bizarre Inc.,
Basic Channel,
The Searchers,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
The Standells,
kango's stein massive,
Magma,
Unwound,
A Certain Ratio,
MC5,
Jacob Miller, Jacob Miller, Jacob Miller, Jacob Miller.
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.