Top 5 Singer/ Song Writers
by: Sanchez
John Roderick
John Roderick is an American musician, writer, and podcaster. Born in Seattle, Washington, he grew up in Anchorage, Alaska where as a young man he worked for a gold mining operation in the area. He is currently the lead singer and guitarist in the band The Long Winters and was formerly a touring member of the band Harvey Danger. He is also a frequent guest musician on recordings by other bands, appearing on the Death Cab for Cutie album Transatlanticism, the Nada Surf album The Weight Is a Gift, The Decemberists album Picaresque, and the David Bazan albumCurse Your Branches, as well as recordings by BOAT, Visqueen, Say Hi, Denver Dalley, and Ken Stringfellow. He collaborated with Jonathan Coultonfor Coulton's album, "Artificial Heart," released in September, 2011.
Roderick co-wrote two songs with Kathleen Edwards on her 2011 album Voyageur. "Soft Place to Land", co-written by Edwards and Roderick, won the 2012 SOCAN Echo Songwriting Prize
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Jonathan Coulton
Jonathan Coulton(born December 1, 1970) is an American singer/song writer, known for his songs about geek culture and his use of the Internet to draw fans. Among his most popular songs are "Code Monkey", "Re: Your Brains", "Still Alive" and "Want You Gone" (the latter two being featured in the games Portal and Portal 2 respectively).
A former computer programmer employed at Cluen, a New York City software company, and self-described geek, Coulton tends to write quirky, witty lyrics about science fiction and technology: a man who thinks in simian terms, a mad scientist who falls in love with one of his captives, and the dangers of bacteria. Rare topical songs include 2005's "W's Duty", which sampled President George W. Bush, and 2006's "Tom Cruise Crazy". Most of Coulton's recordings feature his singing over guitar, bass, and drums; some also feature the various other instruments Coulton plays, including: accordion, harmonica, mandolin, banjo, ukulele, and glockenspiel.
Coulton graduated in 1993 from Yale. He is now the Contributing Troubadour at Popular Science magazine, whose September 2005 issue was accompanied by a five-song set by him called Our Bodies, Ourselves, Our Cybernetic Arms. He was also the Musical Director for The Little Gray Book Lectures.
Coulton's best-known works include his light-acousticcover of the Sir Mix-a-Lot hit song "Baby Got Back" and original pieces such as "Code Monkey", which was featured on Slashdot on April 23, 2006 and linked from the webcomic Penny Arcade. It was also the theme song for an animated show on G4 called "Code Monkeys"
Coulton wrote and performed a song titled "Still Alive" for the ending credits of Valve's 2007 video game Portal, with vocals by Ellen McLain. On April 1, 2008, Harmonix made this track available as free downloadable content for the game Rock Band. A version with Coulton's vocals was also included on the Orange Box Original Soundtrack, in addition to the one heard at the end of the game. "Still Alive" has also made an appearance as an easter egg in Left 4 Dead 2. The song has been called "the most influential game music". In 2011, Coulton followed up the success of "Still Alive" with a new song at the end of Portal 2, "Want You Gone".
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Jullian Casablancas
Julian Casablancas was born in New York City, to Spanish American business mogul John Casablancas, the founder of Elite Model Management, and Danish Jeanette Christiansen, a former model and onetime Miss Denmark in 1965. His paternal grandfather, Fernando Casablancas, was a well-known textile businessman. His parents divorced and his mother subsequently married painter Sam Adoquei. Adoquei helped shape Casablancas' early musical taste by exposing him to music such as The Doors, which was markedly different from the mostly Phil Collins influenced music he listened to as a child. In 2005, Julian married the assistant to the Strokes' manager, Juliet Joslin. In January 2010, they welcomed a son, Cal Casablancas.
The first member of The Strokes Casablancas met was Nikolai Fraiture, who attended Lycée Français de New York with him (Fraiture graduated in 1997, Casablancas in 1996. When he was 14, Casablancas' father sent him to Institut Le Rosey, an elite boarding school in Switzerland. There, he met future Strokes member Albert Hammond, Jr. Casablancas attended The Dwight School with two other future Strokes, Nick Valensi and Fabrizio Moretti. Casablancas never finished school, but continued to take music classes, where he says he first enjoyed himself in class.
Julian Casablancas' has said that Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come" is his favorite song of all time. In addition, he has also cited Lou Reed ofThe Velvet Underground as a major influence on his lyrics and singing style. "The way Lou Reed wrote and sang about drugs and sex, about the people around him — it was so matter-of-fact", Casablancas stated in a Rolling Stone interview. "Reed could be romantic in the way he portrayed these crazy situations, but he was also intensely real. It was poetry and journalism". He has also stated very often throughout his career that Bob Marley is one of his favorite songwriters.
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Darwin Deez
"grew up in Chapel Hill, Starting in 2007, I wrote and recorded the self-titled debut album, Darwin Deez, in my Manhattan apartment. It took me about two and a half years. I was using a pretty old tower PC, some effects plug-ins, a practice amp, and an inexpensive microphone. I didn’t use the word baby in any of the songs. And my main guitar has only four strings. I’ve been writing songs since I was 11, and now that I don’t suck, people are finally taking notice."-Darwin Smith
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Cosmo Jarvis
Cosmo was born in New Jersey, United States. As a child, he moved to Devon, United Kingdom with his family. In his own words he has stated that he has no affiliation to New Jersey, except that "Kevin Smith was born there and I love his work". Cosmo first started writing and recording music in his bedroom where he also began making his first films on VHS when he was barely twelve. His storytelling demonstrated an advanced level of sophistication, as was clear from the lengths that he would go to tell his tales; film the television and then film out of the window because that way he knew that he was telling a story. Cosmo released his self-titled debut album aged nineteen, having left education at Ivybridge Community College at sixteen to pursue a career in music and film, instead of choosing to attend a sixth form.