Tea & Techno

Remember the drum n’ bass movement?  Remember it when it was infused with jazz guitar riffing?  No?  Then you probably haven’t heard of Cosm.  Almost as if Aphex Twin was hired to write music to play overhead at Starbucks, the group marry a strong Zero 7-type sense of melodicism with club-ready beat work, making a delicious new sound that does the rare feat of being perfect for arty coffee-sipping or just flat-out dancing.  On this great 2003 release, “Divinity” is the obvious highlight, but the dark and cinematic “My Demons” shows a large amount of depth to their sound, with Wendy J’s vocals soaring without ever dominating any given track.  Two fairly pointless remixes round out the six-song EP, but overall it’s a strong debut release.  The group has since moved in a more hip-hop direction, but this will stand as a calling card of a unique group ready and willing to take risks—and boy do we need a few more of those.

• Multiple songs MySpace