No time for fripperies (except for a brief mention of King Crimson later — Ohhhh! Now that’s a music geek joke). Anyway, straight to the biz. Let’s round ’em up:
Both as the founder of the band Porcupine Tree and as a solo act, Steven Wilson has become synonymous with modern prog rock. And for the last decade he’s also taken on a side hustle as the go-to remixer and remastering engineer for the catalogs of such prog giants as Jethro Tull, Yes, and King Crimson. But he’s also revamped the off-kilter pop of Roxy Music and XTC. That’s kind of where his solo albums fall: they can be appreciated by a wide swathe of listeners who enjoy progressive rock and pop.
This album has something to do with outer space. As with many albums in this genre, the concept isn’t perfectly clear, but it’s fun picking out the influences and the music sounds great!
I recommended Lucius back in 2016 and then kind of lost track of what they’ve been doing. My mistake. These Berklee grads have a fine way with both uptempo and downtempo songs and are nowhere near as aggressive and scary as their album cover would imply.
Country artists from Texas offer something different from their counterparts in Nashville. There’s often a streak of iconoclasm and a willingness to play with the genre. Johnson adds the occasional New Orleans flavor to his neo-traditionalist songs and delivers his lyrics with a sardonic wink.
Also, he goes by the name Pug. How can you not check out a guy named Pug?
1 2 3 o' clock 4 o' clock Rock 
I’m strangely drawn to Pug, particularly the second song, but why in the world you’d name a child after a brachycephalic-inflicted dog is a question for another day.
I didn’t look up if it’s a nickname or his given name, but I think I prefer it to remain a mystery 😂