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 Honduras and from Beijing.
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 1969 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Philadelphia and Johannesburg.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Columbus 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 sitar sounds with much patience.
I was there when Holger Czukay 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 LL Cool J to the rap kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 Godley & Creme. All the underground hits.
All Cybotron 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Kaleidoscope record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a synthesizer.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
kango's stein massive,
Jacob Miller,
Funkadelic,
Roxy Music,
Pierre Henry,
Bang On A Can,
James White and The Blacks,
June Days,
Bob Dylan,
EPMD,
Bill Near,
A Certain Ratio,
Joensuu 1685,
Sight & Sound,
The Moody Blues,
Qualms,
Albert Ayler,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
the Fania All-Stars,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Liliput,
Lee Hazlewood,
Radio Birdman,
The Fugs,
Public Enemy,
Lungfish,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
DJ Sneak,
the Slits,
Peter and Kerry,
Glenn Branca,
The Searchers,
Crispy Ambulance,
Joe Finger,
Maleditus Sound,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Mandrill,
R.M.O.,
Blake Baxter,
Sonny Sharrock,
The Fall,
Thee Headcoats,
Pole,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Bronski Beat,
The Pretty Things,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Scion,
Chris & Cosey,
Fad Gadget,
D'Angelo,
The Velvet Underground,
Juan Atkins,
Nas,
DJ Style,
Graham Central Station,
Peter & Gordon,
Visage,
Eli Mardock,
Sound Behaviour,
Sonic Youth,
Urselle, Urselle, Urselle, Urselle.
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.