“AN ORCHESTRA IN THE SINK” Ruta 66 (Spain)
STORY…
While watching the movie The Ice Storm, in the death throws of a breaking up band (once produced by Joe Blaney: Combat Rock, This is Radio Clash, The Raveonettes), I happened upon the scene when Sigourney Weaver pulls the young mans keys out of the bowl. Lightbulb! The next morning I bought a fish bowl, placed pieces of paper with words like “horn section”, “cartoon theme songs”, “pots and pans”, “no drums”, "washtub bass (which I then built)" etc. in the bowl and drew. That Burroghs-esq technique spawned the first The Key Party record Hit or Miss (2007). We used the same technique, even as the project evolved into more of a big band, to create our second subversive lounge full length My Blacks Don’t Match (2009). Both albums made Top Albums of the Year, Day and Month Lists (see below). We continue to be an artist in residence at The Gershwin Hotel, Manhattan where we are free to explore our various multimedia visions including our attempt to produce the first 5 senses live show (sound, vision, smell, taste, touch).
RESUME…
Darren Gaines & The Key Party have been favorably compared to gutter poets Lou Reed and Tom Waits (LA Weekly, CMJ, PopMatters), called "Nick Cave Meets No-Wave" (San Francisco Chronicle), and most recently "thrilling and operatic" – Citizen Dick. Our song Good Old Days made WFNX’s First Contact BEST TRACKS of 2009. Our records are in radio libraries from KEXP to WOXY.COM. Russian Pop Culture Critic and DJ (FM Dostoyevsky) Artemy Troitsky cites himself a fan. The December 2009 issue of renowned Spanish magazine Ruta 66 contains a full 2 page spread Interview with DG&TKP. Our songs and records grace many BEST OF lists including, Album of the Day (CMJ), Download of the Week (SF Chronicle), Best Albums of 2009
(Next Big Thing – Germany), Lucid Culture’s Top 50 Albums
and Top 20 NYC Concerts of 2009, and most recently, Alberto Loderios of Ruta 66 named My Blacks Don’t Match the Best International Album of 2009.
New Song: Where Were You Last Night
