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 Lesotho and from Delhi.
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 1964 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Tokyo and Edmonton.
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 1970 at the first Onyeabor practice in a loft in Enugu.
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 Strawberry Alarm Clock to the grime kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 Modern Lovers. All the underground hits.
All Avey Tare tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Young Rascals record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal crunk 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 theremin and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a H. Thieme record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Tres Demented,
Quando Quango,
The Blues Magoos,
Sonny Sharrock,
Country Joe & The Fish,
MDC,
Kaleidoscope,
The Pop Group,
Desert Stars,
Sonic Youth,
Peter & Gordon,
Electric Light Orchestra,
The Detroit Cobras,
The Seeds,
Donny Hathaway,
Television,
48th St. Collective,
Grauzone,
Clear Light,
The Leaves,
Pylon,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Adolescents,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Colin Newman,
Warren Ellis,
Ornette Coleman,
Panda Bear,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Nas,
Infiniti,
The Grass Roots,
David Axelrod,
Bobby Sherman,
Cybotron,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
Isaac Hayes,
The Motions,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
The Victims,
Brand Nubian,
Mark Hollis,
Delta 5,
The Selecter,
DNA,
Pere Ubu,
JFA,
Slave,
The Sonics,
L. Decosne,
Curtis Mayfield,
Grey Daturas,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Todd Terry,
The Birthday Party,
The Young Rascals,
Black Flag,
Average White Band,
Avey Tare,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
The Tremeloes,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Visionaries,LMNO, T- Love & Iriscience,
Black Pus, Black Pus, Black Pus, Black Pus.
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.