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 Azerbaijan and from Toronto.
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 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Edmonton and Milan.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Mumbai 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 1968 at the first Bowie practice in a loft in Bromley.
I was working on the theremin 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 Man Eating Sloth to the punk kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Curtis Mayfield. All the underground hits.
All It's A Beautiful Day tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Can record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk 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 theremin and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a chamberlin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Eric Copeland,
Lungfish,
X-Ray Spex,
Avey Tare,
Gang Gang Dance,
Skaos,
Reuben Wilson,
Unrelated Segments,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Robert Görl,
The Mojo Men,
The Monks,
Radiohead,
Throbbing Gristle,
Pharoah Sanders,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Derrick May,
Al Stewart,
Pet Shop Boys,
The Count Five,
Ronnie Foster,
Ultra Naté,
Essential Logic,
E-Dancer,
Kas Product,
The Names,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Wire,
Godley & Creme,
Gabor Szabo,
Don Cherry,
Chrome,
Marshall Jefferson,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Aswad,
Roxette,
Archie Shepp,
Severed Heads,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Mary Jane Girls,
Minor Threat,
Lou Christie,
Juan Atkins,
Kerri Chandler,
The Evens,
The Star Department,
Pulsallama,
Tomorrow,
Agitation Free,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Grandmaster Flash,
Soft Machine,
Silicon Teens,
the Human League,
The Pop Group,
Ponytail,
The Martian,
Frankie Knuckles,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
A Certain Ratio,
Rakim, Rakim, Rakim, Rakim.
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.