The Good Samaritans – No Food Without Taste If By Hunger (Analog Africa, 2023)
The sirring highlife music known as Edo Funk from Benin City, Nigeria is back. Following the international success of the “Edo Funk Explosion Vol.1” project, Analog Africa has now unearthed “No Food Without Taste If By Hunger” by The Good Samaritans, one of the most obscure Nigerian albums ever recorded. Originally released in 1982, the band’s first album is full of bouncy bass lines, raw trance-like grooves and tripped-out psychedelic guitars, an unparalleled funk experience.
The Good Samaritans is Philosopher Okundaye’s own Edo-Funk project, under which name he produced four albums, all recorded at Phonodisk Studio in Ijebu-Igbo east of Lagos with a 24 track sound board. Okundaye who played many instruments, engaged the right musicians for each project and mixed the whole thing himself, is known as the composer of a large part of Benin City’s celebrated hits in the 1980s. His name keeps popping up, but somehow his role in the scene remains a bit hazy, giving the character an image of something like the gray eminence of Edo funk.
Due to its private pressing in a probably very small edition, “No Food Without Taste If By Hunger” is very difficult to find. With this reissue limited to 2000 copies – newly mastered by Nick Robbins and approved by Philosopher Okundaye himself – The Good Samaritans make a welcome and long-overdue return to turntables around the world in a beautiful Silk-Screen printed cover and an orange colored vinyl pressed on 180g high quality vinyl.
This is fcaptivating unk stripped down to its primal essence, driving rhythms mixed with highlife horns, sweet keyboards and psychedelic guitar riffs, pushing the limits of dance moves towards futuristic dance floors.
Buy No Food Without Taste If By Hunger
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.