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 Samoa and from Manila.
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 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Stockholm and Halifax.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Accra 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 1977 at the first Mistral practice in a loft in Amsterdam.
I was working on the linndrum 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 Lou Reed to the jazz kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 Traffic Nightmare. All the underground hits.
All Aural Exciters tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Amazonics record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a linndrum.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Magazine,
The Zeros,
New Age Steppers,
Section 25,
8 Eyed Spy,
48th St. Collective,
The Beau Brummels,
Carl Craig,
Y Pants,
Glambeats Corp.,
Marmalade,
Kerrie Biddell,
Patti Smith,
Tim Buckley,
Tommy Roe,
Bob Dylan,
The Grass Roots,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
D'Angelo,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Drexciya,
EPMD,
The Slits,
Ponytail,
The Blues Magoos,
Faust,
Smog,
H. Thieme,
Amazonics,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Pantytec,
The Toasters,
Chrome,
Television,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
Black Moon,
David Axelrod,
Model 500,
Avey Tare,
The Birthday Party,
Shoche,
Skaos,
The Sound,
Michelle Simonal,
a-ha,
Althea and Donna,
Sarah Menescal,
The Count Five,
Swans,
Aaron Thompson,
Quadrant,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Black Flag,
Popol Vuh,
Lou Christie,
The Mojo Men,
Camouflage,
Von Mondo,
The Smiths,
Drive Like Jehu,
Dorothy Ashby,
Donald Byrd, Donald Byrd, Donald Byrd, Donald Byrd.
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.