Skip to content
Spotlight

Terrific Twitter Trio of the Week

101202-twitter-trio-2.jpg

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:

  • Islands’ Nick Thorburn
    @nickfromislands

    Why You Should Follow: You’ll soon be hearing much more from this singer-songwriter, who uses the stage name “Nick Diamonds” while fronting the Brooklyn-based art rock band Islands. He just joined forces with two other indie heroes — Man Man’s Honus Honus and Modest Mouse’s Joe Plummer — to form Mister Heavenly, and the band is already making news. They just embarked on a 10-date tour opening for Passion Pit, and their bassist on the road is none other than Scott Pilgrim vs. the World star Michael Cera — who’s rumored to be joining the band full-time. Thorburn hasn’t tweeted much since the tour began, but just wait until he hits a bout of insomnia — he’ll be back to Twitter in no time. Some of his best tweeting happens in the middle of the night, when he can’t sleep (and according to a recent tweet, he’s considering staying awake for his entire 29th year, so expect lots of sleep-deprived gems over the next several months). Whether he’s singing the praises of M.C. Hammer’s Jay-Z dis video, coming up with brilliant ideas for the hashtag “#microsoftbasedcomputercardgamebandnames” (seriously, wouldn’t Avey Solitaire be a great name for a band?), or bragging about his prolific music writing (“I wrote 15 songs today. The next islands record will be a boxed set”), you’ll enjoy his wit and taste for the absurd.

    Best Tweet of the Week: “All packed and ready to leave for (mister heavenly) tour tomorrow. It’s always good luck to start a tour on your birthday.”

  • Ida Maria
    @tweedamaria

    Why You Should Follow: This Norwegian pop rocker wins points for having one of the more clever Twitter handles out there — and tweeting lots of clever things. She shares facts about trees (“The stoutest living single-trunk tree specie in diameter is: African Baobab Adansonia: 15.9 m (52 ft), Limpopo Province, South Africa”), brings up interesting discussion points (“Marriage is a wonderful institution, but who wants to live in an institution?”), and muses over questions like “Is getting a leather sofa classy, retro or just pornographic?” She also discusses the musicians she loves, from Kanye West to Peaches to M.I.A., and sets goals for herself (“From this day on I’ll sing one Bryan Adams song every morning”). Look out for lots of promotional tweets as she gets ready to release her second album, Katla, in the U.S. (it’s already out in Norway).

  • The Black Lips
    @TheBlackLips

    Why You Should Follow: These “drunk psychedelic flower punks” — as they describe themselves in their Twitter bio — just debuted several new songs at a riotous concert in their hometown of Atlanta, a promising sign that their fifth album, produced by Mark Ronson, might be close to finished. While you’re waiting, check in with their Twitter for lots of behind-the-scenes tweets (“final few days in the studio with @iammarkronson pressure is on! Lets party saturday night!”), including some that make you a little nervous (“human skulls have great reverb”). Bonus points: They sometimes post links to YouTube videos of songs that inspire them, like “Seat in the Kingdom” by the Hightower Brothers and “Jerkin’ the Dog” by The Mighty Hannibal.

    Best Tweet of the Week: They haven’t tweeted since mid-November, but don’t worry, they’ll be back — especially once the new album is finished.