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 Grenada and from Lagos.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Josef K show in Edinburgh.
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 1966 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Accra and Bremen.
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 1970 at the first Onyeabor practice in a loft in Enugu.
I was working on the spring reverb 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 Moebius to the funk 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 Babytalk. All the underground hits.
All the Germs tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Monks 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a marimba and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Ultimate Spinach record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Smoke,
The Wake,
Thee Headcoats,
The Fortunes,
Stetsasonic,
Dave Gahan,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Clear Light,
Gerry Rafferty,
Barclay James Harvest,
Eric B and Rakim,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Drexciya,
Pantaleimon,
Radiopuhelimet,
Maurizio,
DJ Style,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
Sam Rivers,
Gabor Szabo,
Byron Stingily,
Roxette,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
Eric Dolphy,
Whodini,
Massinfluence,
Boogie Down Productions,
Ultra Naté,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
K-Klass,
Television,
The Leaves,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Talk Talk,
The Zeros,
Kenny Larkin,
Hasil Adkins,
The Techniques,
Alice Coltrane,
Half Japanese,
Yusef Lateef,
Livin' Joy,
Darondo,
Pussy Galore,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Swans,
Vladislav Delay,
Sight & Sound,
The Mighty Diamonds,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
UT,
DJ Sneak,
Soulsonic Force,
Blancmange,
Soft Cell,
Pierre Henry,
Echospace,
Kaleidoscope,
Banda Bassotti,
Organ, Organ, Organ, Organ.
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.