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 Serbia and from Taipei.
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 1960 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Accra and Paris.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Jakarta 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 2001 at the first Tiga practice in a loft in Montreal.
I was working on the chamberlin 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 The Flesh Eaters to the crunk kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Teenage Jesus and the Jerks. All the underground hits.
All Byron Stingily tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every New York Dolls 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a linndrum and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Wake record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Terrestrial Tones,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
Magma,
Au Pairs,
Fear,
The Alarm Clocks,
The Count Five,
Godley & Creme,
Agitation Free,
Jandek,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Little Man,
Joe Smooth,
Scrapy,
The Monks,
Harpers Bizarre,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Kenny Larkin,
Lee Hazlewood,
Cheater Slicks,
48th St. Collective,
Gregory Isaacs,
Moby Grape,
Pulsallama,
Leonard Cohen,
The Sonics,
KRS-One,
Aaron Thompson,
Soft Machine,
Quando Quango,
The Residents,
Arcadia,
Accadde A,
Amon Düül,
K-Klass,
Johnny Osbourne,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
The Divine Comedy,
Gabor Szabo,
Susan Cadogan,
Grey Daturas,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
The Evens,
Byron Stingily,
Index,
Scientists,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
The Five Americans,
The Leaves,
The Moleskins,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Juan Atkins,
Flipper,
Graham Central Station,
Jawbox,
PIL,
Inner City,
L. Decosne,
Subhumans,
Schoolly D,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
Delta 5,
Sight & Sound,
Oneida, Oneida, Oneida, Oneida.
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.