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 Liberia and from Accra.
But I was there.
I was there in 1975.
I was there at the first Ubu show in Cleveland.
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 1962 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Shanghai and Mumbai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lagos 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 Holger Czukay 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 Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog to the funk kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 Skaos. All the underground hits.
All Marvin Gaye tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish 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 '80s.
I hear you're buying a synthesizer and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Half Japanese record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Crime,
Pierre Henry,
Carl Craig,
PIL,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Urselle,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Connie Case,
Todd Terry,
Gichy Dan,
Bizarre Inc.,
Marcia Griffiths,
Michelle Simonal,
Scratch Acid,
Alphaville,
Moebius,
Hashim,
Jesper Dahlback,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Rod Modell,
Franke,
The American Breed,
Cybotron,
Make Up,
Pussy Galore,
Robert Hood,
Jeff Mills,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
The Red Krayola,
Drive Like Jehu,
Isaac Hayes,
The Neon Judgement,
Joyce Sims,
Chris Corsano,
Q65,
Simply Red,
Vainqueur,
Erykah Badu,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Prince Buster,
Nirvana,
the Swans,
It's A Beautiful Day,
The Fire Engines,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Echospace,
Big Daddy Kane,
The Standells,
Sparks,
Marine Girls,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Deadbeat,
Be Bop Deluxe,
The Victims,
Depeche Mode,
The Cramps,
The Gories,
Pharoah Sanders, Pharoah Sanders, Pharoah Sanders, Pharoah Sanders.
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.