Too often, Queen has become the sum of its over-stated parts — the operatic singer, the layered vocals, the anthematic balladry. What’s lost is the group’s ability to unleash round house after round house of knuckle-sandwich heavy rock.

Even as Steven Wilson focuses more determinedly on his solo career, Blackfield — his concurrent, more pop-focused project with Aviv Geffen — continues forward.

Upon a rolling wave of buzzing beats and percussion pitched halfway between the Burundi borrowings of Bow Wow Wow and Gene Krupa’s “Sing Sing Sing,” comes indie-pop nymph Lykke Li with “Get Some.”

Operating out of Alhambra, California, the Second Helping signed on the dotted line with the local Viva label, where they issued three singles during their livelihood.

The mighty Maharajas’ latest single “Black Box” (Chaputa Records), perhaps a teaser for their upcoming new album, is a winner. Up-tempo and rockin,’ “Black Box” to my ears bears a strong Fuzztones/Music Machine influence

With a smart assist from Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, Mavis Staples transforms Funkadelic’s “Can You Get To That” from a sing-along slab of greasy-good uplift into this Americana-inflected groover.

Guitarist Steve Hackett, with an assist from criminally underrated fellow Genesis alum Ray Wilson, has finally found the emotional centerpoint within one of their old band’s signature tunes, “Carpet Crawlers.”

1989 Monk Competition winner Bill Cunliffe is a diversely skilled pianist who puts his range to use in a variety of settings, from Latin jazz, to fusion to fruitful collaborations of straight ahead jazz.

Never in a million years would anyone guess the lead singer of this gritty and gutsy single is Kenny Loggins. Sounding like a remarkable cross-pollination of the Standells, the Pretty Things and the Shadows of Knight

John Frusciante has released a lengthy, darkly emotional rumination, written for a friend that went back to the guitarist’s days in the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Wayne Forman, tragically, died before he could hear this tribute.