Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

Considering that some of us spent most of the '90s kicking Mr. O'Dowd while he was slippin' on the skids, his rebirth as a club DJ makes a lot more sense. Having a sensitive ear for the singers helps (especially those with wistful, vulnerable bends). However, DJ George works at blending tracks the old way- scooping the floor with a broad  assortment of tunes using subtle intros and short segues. Otherwise, there wouldn't have been any other way to squeeze in all 17 mixes onto Night Out, a sampler of torchy (T-Total's "Come With Me"), dreamy (6AM's "Stolen The Sun") and pensive progressive house ("Ad Finem's "If You Fall") that magnify George's hot commidity as a mood-specific, specialty remixer. 

He still hasn't lost that insipid smirk, but who wouldn't smile at his over-the-top choices in Plump DJs' "Big Groovy F--ker" and Dealer's "The Dealer" (a back-handed, exploitive swipe at the world of pimpin' and dealin') that seem so-o-o George-like not to include them. 

Who knew that in vindication he would still be wearing braids.