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: Peter Bjorn and John (@peterbjornjohn)
Why You Should Follow: This Swedish indie rock trio may seem distant and mysterious on stage, but on Twitter, they’re more than happy to give followers a peek at their lives — even revealing the secret behind their wallpaper photo, which shows the three of them holding a baby upside down by the foot (“Who’s kid is the baby? A: We dont know but it’s upside down”). They post Twitpics of sexy roadies and power naps in Holland, share stories about drinking too much wine and holding business meetings with MGMT, taunt @Schwarzenegger with Mr. Universe comments, and muse about their many travels (“back in paris. i dont know why people call it gay paris, it doesnt seem any gayer than stockholm”). Bonus points: They often host contests via Twitter, asking trivia questions and giving free concert tickets to the first person who tweets the right answer!
Best Tweet of the Week:”thinking of renaming ourselves peter, bjorn and/or john. that way we get the option.”
Who: The Dresden Dolls’ Amanda Palmer (@amandapalmer)
Why You Should Follow: Her debut solo album — and the accompanying book by Coraline author (and boyfriend) Neil Gaiman — are both called Who Killed Amanda Palmer?, but don’t worry, the Dresden Dolls frontwoman is alive and well and tweeting like crazy. When she’s not causing a stir by posting naked pictures of herself covered in Sharpie doodles, she’s capturing the scenes of New York City (like this nine-year-old playing Beethoven on a keyboard in Grand Central station), writing about her adventures in love with @neilhimself, and revealing what a “punk cabaret force of nature” does in her spare time (“fuck it’s a beautiful night, just walked to gas station in a kimono & then up rooftops w/ lee to pontificate on life and death”). Expect near-constant updates, lengthy exchanges with other Twitterers (including fans!), lots of links to mp3s and Twitpics, and many cries of jubilation (“BEEEER!!!!”).
Best Tweet of the Week: This picture of the singer, which came with a charmingly poetic caption: “good cold bra morning coffee brooklyn brewing balcony skyline win.”
Who: Pedro the Lion’s T.W. Walsh (@twwalsh)
Why You Should Follow: Former Pedro the Lion drummer T.W. Walsh, who now fronts the band the Soft Drugs, is one of Twitter’s funniest — and most interesting — devotees. Whether he’s tweeting about mastering songs (“Mastering is kinda like trying to get the pee pee back into your wee wee”) or sharing his views on politics (“Regarding the right to bear arms, it’s none of my business what you are doing with a pair of bear arms in the privacy of your own home”), he keeps things sharp and witty. His tweets sometimes venture into the nerdy (“I’m about to write an anthemic song cutting to the heart of the matter right after I finish refactoring my database connection pool”), especially when Star Wars is at hand, but often they’re just plain wise (“What do you do when you’re not allowed to do what you want to? You do what you gotta do”).
Best Tweet of the Week: “So many things to complain about having too little time to do, and too little time to complain!”
