Bands are chemistry experiments, and the introduction of a couple new elements can change the mix in not readily apparent ways. Dr. Dog has been together for more than a dozen years and released six albums of widescreen psych-pop, redolent of hooks and rather rollicking rock energy. Though

It’s rare for people to live out their childhood dreams, but the Diminico brothers are doing just that. Ever since the two were 13 and 12 years old, respectively, Doug and Dan Diminico have practiced and played together in a family trio that included their father.

As he prepares to release his third major album, Mourning in America and Dreaming in Color, Brother Ali says he’s looking for ways to change society, too.

It took a little puzzling, but we finally determined that the last time we caught up to Leo Kottke was late 2002, when he and Mike Gordon paired up for a duo gig at the Boulder Theater. Kind of an odd night — a typically subdued sprinkling of Leo fans awash in a swell of ardent Phaithful, maybe the biggest crowd Kottke had ever played to in Boulder.

It’d be difficult not to hear an echo of Fleet Foxes shaggy Northwestern Pacific folk-pop or Elliott Smith’s strummy melancholia in the delicate chamber-folk beauty of Blind Pilot’s second album, We Are the Tide. The Portland sextet’s September release is a dramatic step forward from 2008’s more austere, low-key 3 Rounds and a Sound, showcasing not only their growth as musicians and songwriters but the difference a full-fledged studio can make.

Last year proved to be a breakout year for Big Gigantic. The duo, which includes live drummer Jeremy Salken, hit plenty of milestones: Big G opened for Sound Tribe Sector 9 at Red Rocks (a recognized launch pad for upcoming artists that includes Bassnectar and The Glitch Mob), stole the show at Global Dance Festival on an otherwise lackluster day, and returned to the Fox Theatre for their first hometown headline that sold out nearly within 24 hours.

Over the course of Wilco’s seven previous studio albums, singer/guitarist Jeff Tweedy has been viewed as the musical brains behind the critically acclaimed band. But one thing that is immediately apparent in talking to Wilco guitarist Nels Cline is that, as much as Tweedy is bandleader and songwriter, other voices are being heard on the group’s album.

Around the same time Robert Johnson was emerging from the crossroads with his newfound guitar-picking skills, wailing about how all his love was in vain, blues music was going through a transformation of its own.

If you missed New Year’s the first time, Planina offers you another chance to celebrate. Planina (“mountain” in southern Slavic languages) is a group of singers and instrumentalists specializing in the folk music of eastern Europe.

You might say Jason Isbell’s third studio album Here We Rest began at his grandparents’ house in Alabama. It’s there that he first learned his love of music, and it’s to that area that he returned to recharge his batteries. It’s reflected in the album’s quiet, oft reflective tone and largely acoustic instrumentation. It was truly a back-to-the-roots album.