Album Notes

Just when you think the 21st century might finally have caught up with Thomas Dolby, he takes another giant musical and technological leap. The artist who pioneered the marriage of technology and art, who first gave synthesizers soul, puts a camera in his brain and takes us on a visual trip inside his head, his heart, and his music; showing us at one and the same time where it came from and where it's going.

This live concert CD was recorded in May 2006 at the Martyrs in Chicago, IL. The sold out audience that night saw one of the best performances from Dolby's 'Sole Inhabitant' tour, which has thrilled crowds across the USA throughout the year.

The 'Sole Inhabitant' tour dates received high praise from critics. The Chicago Tribune wrote, “The audience seemed mesmerized by Dolby’s compositional and musical dexterity…Far from coming off as strictly a nostalgia act, the evening unfolded as a celebration of his past accomplishments and a harbinger for his future as a revitalized performer.” The Orange County Register added, “Most people’s knowledge of Dolby begins and ends with ‘She Blinded Me With Science,’ a sly slice of synth-funk from a superior album (The Golden Age of Wireless) whose variety and depth went far beyond its artificial surface. Indeed, for those who sought him out — certainly for scores of electronica acts who routinely cite him as an influence — Dolby was one-of-a-kind, a do-it-yourself electro wizard whose work conjured warmth and soul from machines whose output in other hands was pure digital chill.” The Washington Post summed it up: “When he whooshed into ‘Europa and the Pirate Twins,’ Dolby sounded startlingly relevant, no easy trick for a talented artist whose entire career is usually unfairly surmised in a single, shouted phrase.”

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