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Spotlight

Terrific Twitter Trio of the Week

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Lots of musicians tweet — but all that Twitters is not gold.

That’s why you’ll want to check out SPIN.com every Friday to see whose tweets we’re reading this week — then update your TweetDeck! (Obligatory Self-Promotion: …while you’re at it, be sure to follow @SPINmagazine!)

This week’s winners:

Who: The Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan (@Billy)

Why You Should Follow: Feeling lost and confused? Uninspired? Down in the dumps? Let the Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan be your personal Twitter therapist. The alt-rock pioneer is a force of positivity and strength in his tweets, which run the gamut from greeting card inspirational (“Keep Love in your heart today best as you can”) to downright philosophical (“Why are we blowing up the beautiful Moon?” and “The human heart is like a broken clock that keeps working”). Count on lots of John Lennon quotes, musings about society’s obsession with death, and not-so-cryptic declarations of love (Corgan is currently dating pop singer Jessica Simpson). Just don’t expect him to buy into any Twitter trends — apparently, God told him not to. “I know God must absolutely love me BECAUSE He has steered me away from the tweet deck,” he tweeted this past September. “AND He hath forbideth me from using the word ‘tweet’, unless it is in reference to not using it.”

Best Tweet of the Week: “Live your love out loud!”

Who: Camera Obscura (@camera_obscura_)

Why You Should Follow: These twee-poppers just released a cover of Jim Reeves’ 1964 holiday classic, “The Blizzard,” as a special 7″ on Monday, but they’ve been celebrating with hot toddies rather than champagne. “We’re up to 4/5 Cameras with colds. We’ve changed our name to Snot Party. Is that ok?” they tweeted on Wednesday. When they’re not battling stuffy noses, Camera Obscura’s members take turns tweeting about shopping for vintage clothing in St. Louis, dealing with holiday depression, watching David Hasselhoff get acupuncture, and learning how to pole dance. Expect tales of “crippling jetlag,” Twitpics with the Fonz, and requests to meet the band in various U.S. cities with cheesecake.

Best Tweet of the Week: “And at Christmas, if you must Drink and Tweet – be sure to delete.”

Who: Erykah Badu (@fatbellybella)

Why You Should Follow: “The Queen of Neo-Soul” is such a Twitter addict, she actually tweeted while in labor this past February, updating followers on the birth of her daughter, Mars, as it was happening. These days, her tweets veer more in the direction of “Yo mama” jokes (“Yo mama so dumb she didnt graduate Magna Cum Laude… she graduated ooh Thanku Laudie”), but she’s still quite the interesting follow. Whether she’s recounting dreams of meat and weed (she’s a vegetarian and doesn’t smoke), giving shout-outs to “all my ladies having PMS,” or tweeting about sending flowers to her grandmothers (with notes reading “Dear __, you are so sexy. Such a classy lady, I’m n luv w/u…Signed, lover”), Badu keeps things sassy and fun. Bonus points: No matter how busy she is touring, recording, or just being a mother, she always finds time to tweet back at fans (and buddies @solangeknowles and @JanelleMonae).

Best Tweet of the Week: “i need a daddy hug. where do i get that ? craigs list maybe …”