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 Tonga and from Manchester.
But I was there.
I was there in 2001.
I was there at the first Tiga show in Montreal.
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 Lille and Cairo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lille 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 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 Avey Tare to the rock kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Youth Brigade. All the underground hits.
All Alton Ellis tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Monolake 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 '70s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Heaven 17 record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a marimba.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a synthesizer.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Donny Hathaway,
The Leaves,
Yazoo,
Glenn Branca,
Joe Finger,
Zero Boys,
Joensuu 1685,
June Days,
Can,
Frankie Knuckles,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Dual Sessions,
The Dead C,
Sarah Menescal,
Dead Boys,
The Happenings,
Blossom Toes,
Cal Tjader,
Mr. Review,
Black Moon,
June of 44,
AZ,
Eurythmics,
Popol Vuh,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Negative Approach,
Gong,
Lalann,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Make Up,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
Sun Ra,
Black Flag,
Lyres,
the Bar-Kays,
Barry Ungar,
Joy Division,
The Neon Judgement,
Jandek,
Ralphi Rosario,
The Smoke,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
Alton Ellis,
Saccharine Trust,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
The Electric Prunes,
Barrington Levy,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Delon & Dalcan,
Lower 48,
The Detroit Cobras,
Circle Jerks,
Mars,
The Litter,
Thompson Twins,
The Evens,
Bang On A Can,
the Sonics,
Moebius,
The Mummies,
Jesper Dahlback,
Vainqueur, Vainqueur, Vainqueur, Vainqueur.
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.