We'd like to say that "California rapper Snoop Dogg" performs at Lincoln Theatre Wednesday, May 13. And while it's true that Snoop still raps (he remains an ace freestyler), when's the last time you thought of him as just that, just a rapper? Actor, endorser, coach, blazer: He's not just that dude from the LBC anymore. Thing is, after a decade of questionable decisions that include endorsing something called Chronic Candy and recording with Willie Nelson, Snoop remains an entertainer, a cult of personality beloved enough to charge $40-$45 for a 9 p.m. show just off, uhh, Bl(o)unt Street in Raleigh. Below, we take a look at the brain that's driven him since he and Dre unveiled Doggystyle in 1993.

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The North Carolina expatriates of Ear Pwr put a wide-eyed happy face on the glum mugs of a rock club. They add the innocent fun of indie-rock and twee to their frolicking tunes and bubbling rhythms. Ear Pwr also roots down in indie pop's manic overload joy but smears it through layers of synthesizer squawks and megaphone-blasted anthems. They're a day-glo-uniformed version of that long-standing cheerleader skit on Saturday Night Live: "You know what this humdrum rock club calls for, don't you? The perfect cheer."

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Veelee's Three Sides

To put it plainly: Three Sides, the debut EP from Chapel Hill duo Veelee, joins Wood Ear's The Hard Way and Bowerbirds' Danger at Sea as recent short, self-made Triangle debuts that are alarmingly, stop-what-you're-doing-and-memorize-this good. Though these three songs barely break seven minutes total, each of the two-minute-plus indie pop gems takes a smart, minor melody and couches it in a cloud of aloof cool. A simplified cross between Blonde Redhead's phonic allure and 764-Hero's minimal range, it's altogether irresistible.

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Roman Candle's Oh Tall Tree in the Ear

Along with the resplendent textures, radiant melodies and irrepressible ebullience that have united the output of Nashville-via-Chapel Hill-via-Wilkesboro band Roman Candle, the act's other especially pervasive feature is persistence. After all, Oh Tall Tree in the Ear, the band's glowing and ambitious second LP, is the sort of record that shouldn't exist.

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With as many hues and varieties as there are in music's stylistic box, why are there so many trite, unimaginative releases? Why not mix it up? Try something different? Take a chance?

That's exactly what Aminal (formerly Aminal Music) does on its introductory pair of five-song EPs. Of the two EPs, one, A Will to Fight, is a free download. Its counterpart, A Face to Fight, is available for purchase. Picking the better of the two is a fool's errand, though: Taken together they explore commitment, dissolution and self-determination, though while they fit together nicely, they don't adhere to a central concept. Still, these songs would make a fine album, if anyone even concerns themselves with such things these days.

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This week's guide contains:

YES, PLEASE: Bowerbirds, India.Arie, Wye Oak, Pomegranates, Tim Easton, Pretty & Nice, Mastodon, Kylesa

EH, WHATEVER: Cross Canadian Ragweed

VS.: Dash Rip Rock vs. The Generationals

VS.: Paul Rishell and Annie Raines vs. Barney Rogers and Russell Johnson

INTRODUCING...: Lafcadio