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 Albania and from Jakarta.
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 1968 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Woodstock and Spokane.
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 1971 at the first Selda practice in a loft in Istanbul.
I was working on the organ sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 The Cosmic Jokers to the punk 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 Tim Buckley. All the underground hits.
All Gabor Szabo tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Glenn Branca record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal electroclash hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Lalann record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a rhodes.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought an organ.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Lebanon Hanover,
PIL,
The Invisible,
Electric Prunes,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Ornette Coleman,
Mandrill,
Joe Smooth,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
Dave Gahan,
Rod Modell,
LL Cool J,
Bluetip,
The Techniques,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Gong,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Eyeless In Gaza,
the Soft Cell,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Slick Rick,
Judy Mowatt,
Marvin Gaye,
Gichy Dan,
The Dead C,
Bill Near,
Lakeside,
Eddi Front,
The Fortunes,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Bob Dylan,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
The Happenings,
Tom Boy,
Cecil Taylor,
The Velvet Underground,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Marshall Jefferson,
Section 25,
The Gun Club,
Nas,
Janne Schatter,
Skaos,
Unwound,
Warren Ellis,
Basic Channel,
Anakelly,
The Real Kids,
Symarip,
Gerry Rafferty,
U.S. Maple,
Magma,
Niagra,
Sister Nancy,
Television Personalities,
Joensuu 1685,
H. Thieme,
Stereo Dub,
D'Angelo, D'Angelo, D'Angelo, D'Angelo.
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.