For the past couple of years, Steven Wilson, leader-producer of British progressive rockers Porcupine Tree, has been remixing King Crimson’s catalog. His second solo album is a two-CD trip through loss – the album is dedicated to Wilson’s late father – via the vintage vengeance of Seventies Crimson (the instrumental storm "Sectarian") and the iridescent romanticism of Canterbury-scene bands like Caravan ("Deform to Form a Star"). Wilson is also a determined modernist. "Raider II" is a 23-minute beast of black power chords and fusion whiplash: prog rock wrung dry of nostalgia, perfect not for drowning but immersion.

Listen to "Track One":

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“I'm Yours”

Jason Mraz re-emerged after his disappointing second album with this lead single, a Jack Johnson-esque ditty about giving yourself fully to someone else. The success of the reggae-tinged song (it earned two Grammy nods and a spot on the Billboard singles chart for well over a year) was something the folk-pop singer never predicted when he wrote it in 15 minutes at home. "I played a happy-hippie chord progression that would probably work without 50 different Bob Marley songs," he told Rolling Stone. "I thought, 'It's too novelty. This is a nursery rhyme,'" concluding that "you can never guess what's gonna be a hit."