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 Comoros and from Manchester.
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 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lagos and Seoul.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Sao Paulo 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 1983 at the first Bronski Beat practice in a loft in Brixton.
I was working on the oboe sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Juan Atkins to the grime kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 cv313. All the underground hits.
All Unwound tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Ash Ra Tempel record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap 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 marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Ronan record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Khruangbin,
Rosa Yemen,
The Smoke,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
The Human League,
Laurel Aitken,
the Bar-Kays,
Spoonie Gee,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
the Normal,
48th St. Collective,
The Martian,
Rhythm & Sound,
Josef K,
The Searchers,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
The Knickerbockers,
Dennis Brown,
Banda Bassotti,
Ultravox,
Ituana,
Jimmy McGriff,
Rod Modell,
June Days,
Todd Terry,
Drexciya,
The Tremeloes,
Underground Resistance,
Popol Vuh,
Y Pants,
Tubeway Army,
Patti Smith,
Wire,
Guru Guru,
Mantronix,
DJ Sneak,
FM Einheit,
Juan Atkins,
Pierre Henry,
the Swans,
Ultra Naté,
Fifty Foot Hose,
John Cale,
Amon Düül II,
Radiohead,
Bang On A Can,
Pantaleimon,
Basic Channel,
Danielle Patucci,
Oneida,
The Alarm Clocks,
Eli Mardock,
Anthony Braxton,
Eric Dolphy,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
The Misunderstood,
Archie Shepp,
Jandek,
Pet Shop Boys,
Scion,
Scan 7,
Brothers Johnson,
Fluxion, Fluxion, Fluxion, Fluxion.
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.