Idaho indie wunderkinds Finn Riggins are on quite a roll, touring sizeable venues this fall with the likes of Built to Spill and showcasing the trio’s diverse and wonderful new long-play Vs. Wilderness.

Up from Below, the debut full-length album from the ecstatic Los Angeles musical cult known as Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, is in many ways a revelation.

Imogen Heap’s enchanting voice is one part Tori Amos, one part Alicia Keys, and almost every moment of her music is flush with a touch of just slightly un-proper English charm.

For someone who released just one album, enigmatic and gifted singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley — who memorably created wonderful alt-rock somewhere between Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks and Jane’s Addiction — has cemented quite a place for himself in American music history.

So what caused the Pixies (formed 23 years ago in Boston) to release five imaginative and affecting albums from 1987-1991 and then call it quits, having never tasted widespread success? Francis has said that his main influences were Iggy Pop and the Beatles, but most of the uniquely violent and.

On Oct. 22 at Magness Arena on the campus of Denver University, my daughter experienced her first Bob Dylan concert — from the womb. It took 19 years on Earth for me to see a Dylan show — at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh — and the old man’s Denver show last week was my fifth. I’ve now seen Dylan play in four states, but the current version of his touring band, and the 68-year old’s contributions to their eclectic performances, was something totally unexpected.

Leaving the Fox Theatre after Dr. Dog’s fabulous (and packed) performance Monday night, it was hard to escape the realization that the current batch of diverse North American rock bands (which also includes Arcade Fire, Animal Collective, Fleet Foxes, Yeasayer and countless others) is better than any we’ve had since the late 1960s. Much of the “alternative rock” revolution of the 1990s was a sham, or at least it pales in comparison to the plethora of transcendent new groups currently touring and recording.

In the 1960s, the electric blues and psychedelic rock revolution consciously paid debt to many of the musicians who laid the groundwork for not only the sound, but the attitude of rock 'n' roll.