It's hard to lament The Strokes hiatus when their guitarist Albert Hammond, Jr. keeps putting out such great solo releases. On his third full-length, Momentary Masters, he delves into an unintentional new wave inspiration ("I don't really know how to put it into categories," he tells DJ Troy Nelson. "But that sounds good, I like new wave!"). Seemingly happier and healthier than ever (the band even woke up early for a morning run), "Attractive Albert" brings his wiry, stylistic sound to the KEXP studios. Watch:
This week in El Sonido we’ve got some rock and roll and some electronic styles to share - taking us from Spain to Puerto Rico, Los Angeles to planet Klajnak.
“We carry it now as a badge of honor,” says Miguel Ramirez, percussionist of Los Angeles group La Santa Cecilia, “to say that we are immigrants or children of immigrants.” After the band had stopped by KEXP a few months earlier to perform live I reached out over the phone so we could talk a bit mor…