Atomic Bomb: Who is William Onyeabor? @ the Barbican

Only recently have people been waking up to the formidable force that is William Onyeabor – the great synth pioneer born out of 1970’s funk scene of Nigeria. Onyeabor self released eight, what are now almost impossible to find, albums in the late 70’s and early 80’s.

A radical turn of events then saw Onyeabor become a Born-Again Christian and he refused to ever visit his music or his past self ever again. After searching for five long years David Byrne, founder of the label Luaka Bop, tracked down the man behind the music and released World Psychedlic Clissics 5: Who is William Onyeabor? – what has now become one of the most acclaimed reissiues of 2013, coming 4th in Time’s Top 10 Albums of 2013 and was titled Best Reissue of 2013 by Pitchfork. 

Already becoming a major influence on today’s musicians, Onyeabor’s music will be heard live for the first time ever by a line-up of artists that are yet to be announced closer to the date. As part of the Barbican’s Contemporary Music program, this will be a gathering to celebrate the mystery of Onyeabor and the infectious genius of his 70’s electro-funk.

Gonna blow minds! – Four Tet

Anyone out there who is making music at the moment…will be quite excited by this… – Damon Albarn

For information and tickets, you can hop over to the Barbicans Site here.