Tosca

Whenever a musical artist has a child, there's an immediate trepidation among fans that the artist's next release will be all soft and sentimental. But what if the artist's music is already plush and complacent? Well then you have J.A.C., the fourth album by Vienna's breathy, blunted duo Tosca. Taking its title from "Joshua, Arthur, Conrad" -- the new sons of Tosca producers Richard Dorfmeister and Rupert Huber -- J.A.C.is a collection of taut kicks, dubby melodies, and strutting funk bass lines. Accompanying the live nu-jazz flourishes over hypno-house lullabies are some whispered vocals from singers such as Egyptian-Parisian Samia Farah, London's Earl Zinger, and even Huber himself. The formula is simple, but this isn't childish music. It's baby-making music, more subtly frisky than too-coiffed contemporaries such as Thievery Corporation.