The Black Keys’ “Lonely Boy” was brought to us with a video of a lip-syncing, dancing man (not members Dan Auerbach or Patrick Carney) in business casual. He’s got some mad skills in both respects. The song is not bad either. Once you pry your eyes away from the active dancer, listen to it, and get stoked for the album El Camino dropping on December 6. Need more excitement? Check …

Dva is a Czech band I saw at The Meet Factory, David Černý’s gallery in Prague while at a bicycling and green rally. Dva is the Czech word for two, which makes sense since there are only two members of the band. I really don’t know what to make of them, but I do know that seeing them live was insane. The lead vocalist was a mad dancer who infused …

“Will Do:” TV on the Radio
What first grabs me about this song is the way it builds. The track starts with a single xylophone (or a keyboard imitating those pling-plang sounds) that seems in the midst of being played, making the beginning a smooth transition from the silence that had occupied my room before I turned on TV on the Radio’s latest release, “Will Do.” As the song continues, more instruments …

I give you three very different sounds:
The Mountain Goats, “Damn These Vampires”
I’ve often been told that the Mountain Goats are an acquired taste. I suppose there is something eclectic in John Darnielle’s voice and in the subject matter of his songs—they can seem a bit strange. ”Damn These Vampires” does not stray from that oddness. This song is the opening track to their upcoming album All Eternals Deck. The beginning incites a …

I do not claim to know everything. Well, sometimes I do, but when I say things like that I am being completely sarcastic and ridiculous. This list of ten artists and songs that I liked in 2010, like the songs themselves, may not be the be-all and end-all of this year’s releases.  But they are a group of tunes that we should keep (or start) listening to with great frequency. …

Please Turn off the Remix
I’m a fan of Girl Talk and Diplo, and I like the way they adapt, remix and mash-up their music. However, I’m kind of tired of remixes as a whole, especially since most of them lack the authenticity that was portrayed within the original track. I guess I am a bit of a traditionalist in this respect. I cannot even listen to whole remixes anymore. You may …

Who was ready for W6? Me, that’s who, and do you know what goes well with excitement? I’ll give you a clue. It’s not hearing the disappointing news that Sufjan Stevens will not be dedicating to any of the states you grew up in (sigh). Since I assume that news has left you as disheartened as it left me, I won’t make you guess anymore. The correct answer is summed …

First week is long gone, as is the excitement of being back at school with the friends we spent the entire summer missing. In its place there is the wrenching reality of tests, papers, and shifts at our respective jobs that are not as synonymous to study hall as we pretend they are (especially if it’s a late night shift at the Pub). On a less depressing note, there is …

This is the last column I’ll ever write for the Pilot, so I’ve decided to dedicate it to ME! (My apologies to the practitioner and others to whom I promised a whole quarter of this column.) In the three years I’ve written for the Pilot, people have approached me wondering what music I really like. Since every column is about a new album, song, or topic in pop music, do I have favorite bands? Favorite albums? Favorite songs? I distinctly remember the horror on the face of a friend when I told him my honest opinion of his favorite band, the Decemberists, and their latest album, The Hazards of Love. “Their music seems to be getting a bit gimmicky,” I said. “Too predictable. Too heavy on the pretentious folk narratives. After all, a band has to earn my respect before it drifts into that whole rock opera territory. And I feel like the Decemberists have always come close to crossing that line.” My friend blinked at me, then finally declared, “You hate music!” Then he refused to sit with me at dinner.

Since this is the penultimate column I will ever write for The Pilot, I wanted to dedicate some words to discovering new music. In past issues I’ve written about “the blogosphere” and the Internet’s heavy influence on the music industry. The Internet can be a highly educational and efficient way to explore new and old music, along with the cultures connected with that music. With the grand escapades of online multimedia, it can also be a fun resource for daily entertainment. But how does one even begin to navigate the extensive resources that include hyper-subjective blogs and watered-down websites dominated by advertising twaddle? As my last installment of this column will be an editorial of music that will always remind me of my experiences at Principia, I leave you with a few resources to help guide your musical exploration. I’ve often referred to these as sources or tools for my columns, and I’m sure you’ll find at least one of them to be useful to you. Happy listening!