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 Woodstock.
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 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Halifax and Manila.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manchester 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 1984 at the first Arcadia practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the 808 sounds with much patience.
I was there when David Bowie 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 Cameo to the rap kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 the Sonics. All the underground hits.
All Art Ensemble Of Chicago tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Rosa Yemen record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime 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 linndrum and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Flash Fearless record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a rhodes.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Sonics,
Fatback Band,
Zapp,
Eden Ahbez,
Isaac Hayes,
Joyce Sims,
Piero Umiliani,
The Smiths,
Nico,
The Sound,
Connie Case,
Terry Callier,
Ohio Players,
Laurel Aitken,
The Trojans,
Parry Music,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
The Walker Brothers,
Hashim,
James Chance & The Contortions,
The Gap Band,
Goldenarms,
Matthew Halsall,
Slick Rick,
Neil Young,
Y Pants,
Symarip,
Marmalade,
The Residents,
Magma,
In Retrospect,
Ludus,
Crispian St. Peters,
Drexciya,
Jerry Gold Smith,
The Monochrome Set,
Jacob Miller,
Man Parrish,
Eric Copeland,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Warren Ellis,
Rotary Connection,
Carl Craig,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Silicon Teens,
kango's stein massive,
Panda Bear,
Barrington Levy,
Fad Gadget,
EPMD,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
The Index,
Funky Four + One,
The Dave Clark Five,
Pierre Henry,
Yazoo,
Radiopuhelimet,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Barry Ungar, Barry Ungar, Barry Ungar, Barry Ungar.
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.