Thomas Dolby

With a wry smile, a jaunty kick and an eccentric sensibility, Thomas Dolby was a breath of fresh electro groove in the ’80s music landscape with infectious songs like “She Blinded Me With Science” and “Hyperactive.” After hopping off the pop rollercoaster to make innovations in digital music delivery in the ’90s as a sort of godfather of ring-tone culture, Dolby seems to have found a second wind as a live performer and imagineer, as this concert DVD (released amid a national tour with dance producer BT) attests. Dolby plans to release new music over the coming years, which bodes well since these 20-plus-year-old tunes on The Sole Inhabitant are still exciting, slightly puzzling and — more than anything — compositionally sound with the times. Fly-by-night electronica producers had better watch their backs and start elevating their knob twiddles in order to compete with such a charismatic artist. 4 stars.

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Thomas Dolby plays Center Stage Thurs., Nov. 14, with BT.