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:
Also Read
Choppered and Tuned
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- Johnny Marr
- @Johnny_Marr
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Who: The Cribs’ Johnny Marr (@Johnny_Marr)
Why You Should Follow: This legendary axeman — who rose to fame as a member of the Smiths in the ’80s, briefly toured and recorded with Modest Mouse, and now plays guitar for British indie rock band the Cribs — recently liberated his Twitter page from the humdrum of daily press release-style tweets. He now tweets entirely by himself — sharing his thoughts, random observations, and the occasional “Indie rock isn’t dead, radio is” diatribe (“Why does every new Indie Rock song on the radio sound so blazingly over-confident? As if the world has been saved with every verse”). Follow him for instant backstage access (“Kate Nash is playing The Shirelles in her dressing room at The Ritz VERY LOUD”), shout-outs to friends like Neil Finn and the late Slits frontwoman Ari Up, and tweets that read like pure poetry (“Take a walk with Ryan on deserted streets. Midnight shops and empty office blocks”). If you want more Marr, he just released a single for the British charity Centrepoint, which helps homeless young people in the U.K., available here.
Best Tweet of the Week: “It is great from the rooftops. I see the London Eye.”
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- Taylor Swift
- @taylorswift13
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Who: Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13)
Why You Should Follow: America’s country sweetheart is all grown up — well, sort of (she still can’t drink legally). Instead of writing songs about high school crushes, she’s now writing songs about former lovers — including one called “Dear John,” rumored to be about John Mayer, who’s 14 years older than Swift. With her new album creating a sensation among tweens and adults alike, it’s high time to start following the always-adorable singer on Twitter, where she proves that growing up doesn’t mean getting serious (she calls London “Fundon” and still gets very excited over sparkly “13” cupcakes). Look out for plenty of Twitpics — like this one of Swift with an impersonator — and lots of tweets from the road (“Walked out of my room and my mom says to the hair/make up team, ‘You guys sure got your work cut out for you this morning, don’t you'”).
Best Tweet of the Week: “I’ve spent all day with my fans. Central park, a piano, strings.. Now I’m performing for the release party. I can’t wait to hug you guys. :)”
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- Annie
- @annieponannie
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Who: Annie (@annieponannie)
Why You Should Follow: She hasn’t achieved much U.S. acclaim — outside of the blogosphere, anyway — but this Norwegian synth-pop star is well known overseas as a “singer, songwriter, DJ, and sometimes bass player,” as she describes herself on Twitter. She’s a good friend of quirky electroclash singer Peaches and has collaborated with everyone from MSTRKFT to Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos to Teddybears (she contributed the vocals to their 2005 song “Yours to Keep”). According to Twitter, she also recently recorded a song with Designer Drugs and has a new album in the works (she’s been spending a lot of time in her garden, writing lyrics and sipping rooibos tea). She posts pictures from her regular DJ gigs in Germany, documents her shopping trips to A.P.C. and Agent Provocateur, tweets back and forth with fans and friends alike, and posts links to her blog, where she gets into the details of her life that can’t be expressed in 140 characters or less.
Best Tweet of the Week: This super tourist-y Twitpic from a recent tour through Asia.
