1. Make sure all your clothes look like they came from Goodwill, Salvation Army, or conversely some overpriced thrift/vintage shop.
2. Listen to music wherever you are, regardless of circumstances. (Class, bathroom, when someone is talking to you, walking across a busy intersection)
3. Always wear the white headphones. Never wear earbuds or standard headphones. Your headphones should look either very big, very old, or both.
4. Read pitckforkmedia.com religiously, and take everything said there as holy writ.
5. If someone asks what you are listening to, don’t even bother telling them because SURELY they have never heard of the band before.
6. Never buy your music online, and if you do, don’t let anyone know.
7. Scoff at the idea of listening to any radio stations, unless of course they are some obscure college station or show that no one knows about.
8. Immediately stop liking a band the moment they go “mainstream.”
9. Be very careful to always be a non-conformist just for the sake of not conforming (like all the other non-conformists)
10. Use an ipod. Never use an iPod
, that’s what the masses use.
11. Buy a bunch of obscure vinyls and store them in old paper boxes.
12. Get all your opinions about music from pretentious sources and claim them as your own.
Let me know which ones I missed. (I’m sure there are several.) 
I just had to take some time and mention Animal Collective’s most recent album: Merriweather Post Pavillion. I’ve been listening to Animal Collective for probably 5 years now, and they are one of the few bands that consistently deliver some mind-blowing sounds. My first encounter with Animal Collective was on their fantastic Sung Tongs. It was a difficult listen for me at first, and I was close to dismissing it as another high-minded-audiophile only album. However, I soon recognized what the fuss was about and have been greatly enjoying Animal Collective ever since. If you haven’t yet heard any of their stuff, go pick up Sung Tongs, Feels, Strawberry Jam, or Merriweather Post Pavillion.
Merriweather Post Pavillion is very maturely executed, pulling together ideas and sounds from many of their previous albums. Its not as challenging a listen as Sung Tongs, but still presents some staggering and beautifully constructed songs that aren’t confined to your standard verse-chorus fair. I heard a fellow Tweep describe the song structure and sweeping transitions of “In the Flowers” and “My Girls” as ‘pure elation.’ I couldn’t agree more.
The album was highly anticipated and turned out to be pretty huge critical success. Check out in-depth reviews and thoughts on it at Pitchfork and Allmusic.com. Give them a listen, and follow me here or on twitter for more of my thoughts on music (and other stuff.)