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 Namibia and from Lyon.
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 1965 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manila and London.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Cairo 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 1971 at the first Selda practice in a loft in Istanbul.
I was working on the güiro sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 Shuggie Otis to the grime kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 Bill Wells. All the underground hits.
All Au Pairs tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Fatback Band 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 synthesizer and a 808 and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Freddie Wadling record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a spring reverb.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Anthony Braxton,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Camberwell Now,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Barry Ungar,
Organ,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Moebius,
Porter Ricks,
Lou Christie,
Saccharine Trust,
Bronski Beat,
Marc Almond,
The Mummies,
The Sisters of Mercy,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Nils Olav,
Scientists,
In Retrospect,
Bush Tetras,
DJ Sneak,
Kevin Saunderson,
Bootsy Collins,
David Bowie,
Lungfish,
Popol Vuh,
Brothers Johnson,
The Gun Club,
Sam Rivers,
Mo-Dettes,
Toni Rubio,
The Raincoats,
Suburban Knight,
Kayak,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Joe Finger,
Yusef Lateef,
Quando Quango,
Half Japanese,
Pagans,
Bang On A Can,
The Gladiators,
Sound Behaviour,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Coldchain, Rosco P., Featuring Pusha T from Clipse & Boo-Bonic,
Erykah Badu,
Lucky Dragons,
Patti Smith,
Lightning Bolt,
Laurel Aitken,
Peter & Gordon,
The Leaves,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Black Flag,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Inner City,
Fear,
A Certain Ratio,
Marshall Jefferson,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Rotary Connection, Rotary Connection, Rotary Connection, Rotary Connection.
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.