Though he first arrived in the early '80s amid a wave of MTV-ready British electro-pop acts, Dolby had deep ties to the singer-songwriter tradition which gives his work a resonance that's kept his records sounding fresh. Despite his colorfully eccentric science-nerd image, Dolby quickly established himself as an artist of substance, with a bittersweet, introspective lyrical sensibility that set him apart from most of his video-friendly contemporaries. That didn't stop him from scoring his breakthrough hit with the wacky "She Blinded Me with Science," whose frenetic charm remains intact a decade and a half later. The 16-song Retrospectacle is a fine sampler of Dolby's '80s work, compiling such evocative numbers as "Europa and the Pirate Twins," "Airwaves," "One of Our Submarines," and the charmingly unhinged "Hyperactive!" --Scott Schinder
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