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 Sierra Leone and from Mexico City.
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 1966 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Jakarta and Woodstock.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lyon 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 arpeggiator sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Janne Schatter to the rock 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 Lungfish. All the underground hits.
All Niagra tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Pop Group record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a spring reverb and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Qualms record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
the Normal,
Hoover,
Matthew Halsall,
Sonny Sharrock,
Siglo XX,
Gil Scott Heron,
Ituana,
The Cramps,
Fat Boys,
Michelle Simonal,
The Selecter,
Dual Sessions,
Ponytail,
Swell Maps,
Grandmaster Flash,
Panda Bear,
Von Mondo,
The Trojans,
Scrapy,
Matthew Bourne,
The Moleskins,
The Standells,
Eric B and Rakim,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
Nik Kershaw,
Groovy Waters,
Eden Ahbez,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Oneida,
Radio Birdman,
Bootsy Collins,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Lower 48,
Johnny Osbourne,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Susan Cadogan,
Lyres,
Sparks,
The Happenings,
Darondo,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Spoonie Gee,
Yellowson,
The American Breed,
Crash Course in Science,
Harry Pussy,
Fugazi,
The Red Krayola,
Girls At Our Best!,
Warren Ellis,
Drive Like Jehu,
Sarah Menescal,
Aswad,
the Fania All-Stars,
Skarface,
Joyce Sims,
Joe Finger,
The Gories,
Curtis Mayfield,
Mars,
Peter and Kerry, Peter and Kerry, Peter and Kerry, Peter and Kerry.
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.