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 Micronesia 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 1966 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Spokane and Spokane.
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 1970 at the first Onyeabor practice in a loft in Enugu.
I was working on the clarinet sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 U.S. Maple to the techno 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 Qualms. All the underground hits.
All Magma tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Kerri Chandler record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock 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 snare and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Maleditus Sound record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 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 Misunderstood,
Stetsasonic,
Cybotron,
FM Einheit,
KRS-One,
Matthew Halsall,
Public Image Ltd.,
Grey Daturas,
Funky Four + One,
John Holt,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
The Seeds,
Maurizio,
The Fall,
Unwound,
Bad Manners,
Alice Coltrane,
Suburban Knight,
X-Ray Spex,
Camberwell Now,
the Normal,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Howard Jones,
The Fire Engines,
Coldchain, Rosco P., Featuring Pusha T from Clipse & Boo-Bonic,
The Real Kids,
Massinfluence,
In Retrospect,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
Donald Byrd,
Marvin Gaye,
Gerry Rafferty,
Arthur Verocai,
The Associates,
Motorama,
Animal Collective,
Sister Nancy,
The Names,
Brand Nubian,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Eve St. Jones,
Visionaries,LMNO, T- Love & Iriscience,
Au Pairs,
Ultravox,
The Human League,
Lakeside,
Marcia Griffiths,
Bobby Byrd,
Hot Snakes,
Monolake,
Arab on Radar,
Altered Images,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
H. Thieme,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
David McCallum,
Erasure, Erasure, Erasure, Erasure.
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.