New York Dolls
'Cause I Sez So
(Atco)

The second album by the reformed New York Dolls reunites them with original producer Todd Rundgren, but don't expect a helping of glam-punk nuggets. These Dolls may feature original members David Johansen and Sylvain Sylvain, but they're a slicker crew that mixes rock, soul, and blues in more predictable ways. The spark of the old band resurfaces in flickers—particularly the attitudinal title track and raucous "Exorcism of Despair"—but more typical are the bluesy "Muddy Bones," funky strutting "Nobody Got No Bizness," and tender ballad "Better than You." None of these approach the band's classic tracks. But these Dolls deliver a respectable mash-up of vintage styles with a welcome side of trash.  —Jeff Jackson

James Blackshaw
The Glass Bead Game
(Young God)

James Blackshaw wields a mean 12-string guitar, spooling out phrases with the kind of insistent droning and repetetiveness common to modern minimalist composers. He creates fast-moving arrangements evoking the instrumental folk of the British Isles (he also employs violin, clarinet, flute, cello and piano). The result is a pleasantly rambling and hypnotic set of long tunes—The Glass Bead Game has only five tracks, but nearly 50 minutes of music—that seem like emissaries from some alternate version of the medieval past. Blackshaw's music is like a soundtrack for the castle-bound, a dark and rainy musical voyage well worth taking, not quite like anything else. Be sure to bring the reliquaries—you may need them.  —James Heflin

Jeff D'Antona Trio
Ocean Rising
(independent)

Even though he is 26, Jeff D'Antona is already showing signs of the restless nature often attributed to the onset of middle age. Only instead of buying a sports car, he is exploring the possibilities of what audiences expect from a jazz trio. On his sophomore release with collaborators Makaya McCraven and Tristan Gutner, D'Antona is still mining the territory that made their first record so accessible, notably the nature of melody and its relationship to emotion, but has added further groove and sonic textures that probably first took seed in his work with hip-hoppers Cold Duck Complex (which also features McCraven on drums). It's an interesting brew.  —Michael Cimaomo

Micachu
Jewellery
(Rough Trade)

Bands have reworked the music of the past so relentlessly in recent years that it's easy to forget novelty used to be a regular part of the pop landscape. Micachu's debut reintroduces the shock of the new. Quirky, unpolished and chaotic, Jewellery is a dizzying collision of detuned acoustic guitars, scrambled electronics and minced-up grooves. Mica Levi's androgynous voice grounds the songs, which feature insidiously catchy melodies and buzzing hooks competing with bursts of white noise. Some tunes seem like tantalizing fragments while others are fully realized future-pop concoctions. If this gnarled tangle seems hard to parse at first, it coalesces over several listens, leaving Micachu's peers sounding thoroughly retro.  —Jeff Jackson