“Ball of the Dead Rat” is one of those songs that just kills me every time I hear it…

While May’s high profile major label releases might’ve dominated sales charts, it was the month’s independent releases that were the most compelling. Add to that a series of fantastic concerts, the Twin Cities’ largest hip hop festival and a few solid music videos and May measures just as strong as any other this year. Above all however, these are Culture Bully’s favorite things from the month of May.

The song, like the entire album, is a mesmerizing journey that finds a top notch band hitting their stride behind a captivating singer/songwriter and is one of the best albums in its genre of the year.

Fuzzy rock bands Crocodiles and Holy Fuck played a show Sunday night at the 7th Street Entry; a night that showcased two bands with lots of potential, though only one ended up living up to the hype.

Levon Helm will perform at St. Paul’s Fitzgerald Theater on June 10.

It can be difficult to gain a balanced perspective on an album after reading a single summary of the music. Bias can tilt a review, as can personal taste, history and just about everything else that is unique to the person writing it. So in an effort to offer an expanded perspective in such a medium, here are four reactions, four impressions, Four Takes on Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix by Phoenix.

It takes about five seconds from the time that you start listening to Mouthful of Bees’ sophomore album before you realize that it will be nothing like their wonderfully ramshackle garage rock debut The End…

It can be difficult to gain a balanced perspective on an album after reading a single summary of the music. Bias can tilt a review, as can personal taste, history and just about everything else that is unique to the person writing it. So in an effort to offer an expanded perspective in such a medium, here are four reactions, four impressions, Four Takes on Veckatimest by Grizzly Bear.

Local noise rockers Gay Beast are back on the scene with their latest album Second Wave.

A recap of Art-A-Whirl 2009 featuring photos and commentary on Gay Witch Abortion, Daughters of the Sun, Private Dancer, Jeremy Messersmith and more!

The Shrines sauntered on stage shortly after midnight to a completely packed Triple Rock crowd that was well lubricated and ready for a party. And after the initial opening musical introduction, a la P-funk, the man of the hour made his grand entrance to an especially rapturous response.

Tuesday night saw the return of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band for what was, predictably, a drawn out and massively entertaining set mixing songs from his classic early work to his most recent album, Working on a Dream.