Albert Hammond Jr.

Getty Images Jay-Z 's album Blueprint made it on music magazine NME 's list of the top 50 albums of the decade, coming in at 22 -- which is no small feat, considering there's just a few albums that get released in a 10-year span. Rockers The Strokes’ Is This It topped the entire list. The results were compiled from votes from record producers, label execs and musicians, including members of Radiohead and Arctic Monkeys, who both rank highly. Jay-Z (Getty) Troubled rocker Pete Doherty saw three of his albums make the list, with his former band The Libertines coming in second place with ... Read Full Story

New York rock band the Strokes have been busy since their last album in 2006, just not together, and lead singer Julian Casablancas carries on the trend releasing his first solo album Monday. "Phrazes for the Young" (RCA/Jive/Sony) mixes tambourines with brass and synthesizers to create a retro-futurist sound that Casablancas will perform to European crowds on a tour starting at the end of November. "It can be difficult to experiment when you are part of a group," Casablancas said to Spin magazine, "With 'Phrazes' I wanted to be madly different and put down a bridge between traditional and modern music." His voice is ... Read Full Story

When the members of a band have released more solo albums than together as a whole, it’s easy to start worrying about whether or not the group’s hiatus is just that. Case in point, the Strokes. After a brilliant debut acclaimed by critics and fans alike, they released an adventurous sophomore effort that was slightly inferior, and then a sprawling, uneven hot mess. As if taking cue from falling flat so ceremoniously, the group decided to take a break and go their separate ways for a bit. Out of this came a couple impressive solo efforts from Albert Hammond, Jr. as well as projects ... Read Full Story

The Stroke’s first solo gigs were in Japan this summer, and Monday’s Spaceland show was a last minute surprise, so while last night was JC’s 4th ever solo show, it was most stateside fans’ first shot to see his synth-pop makeover in person. With elaborate stage backdrops and light-up costumes for their encore, Julian and band played the 8-track Phrazes along with b-sides like “I’ll Try Anything Once.” (Sadly “ Christmas ” didn’t come early.) Perhaps the real spectacle was Fabrizio Moretti and Albert Hammond, Jr being mobbed by fans upstairs. The pair posed for pics, signed autographs, and — since they arrived separately ... Read Full Story

When the members of a band have released more solo albums than together as a whole, it’s easy to start worrying about whether or not the group’s hiatus is just that. Case in point, the Strokes. After a brilliant debut acclaimed by critics and fans alike, they released an adventurous sophomore effort that was slightly inferior, and then a sprawling, uneven hot mess. As if taking cue from falling flat so ceremoniously, the group decided to take a break and go their separate ways for a bit. Out of this came a couple impressive solo efforts from Albert Hammond, Jr. as well as projects ... Read Full Story