dearest darlings,
we have some news to share.
its not happy news.
we will be playing our final show on May 26th in Philly.
These last four years together have been a beautiful and wild rollercoaster and we are all the better for having met all of you. Thank you for the couches, floors, and porches you shared with us, for eating endless breakfast burritos with us, for showing us the coolest parts of your towns and the secret swimming holes that only you know about, for thrift shopping with us, for getting on stage and playing with us, for telling your friends about us, but most importantly thank you for constantly supporting our music. It’s a dream to be able to travel the country with a group of your friends and play shows to keep the van moving. so seriously..thankyou.

It’s currently unclear as to what will happen next. You can find Evan playing with Holy Death and Kyle is always over Headroom Philadelphia recording bands. and Chrissy I’m sure will start a new project soon. So stay tuned. and hopefully you can make it on the 26th.

so much love forever.
♥ ♥ ♥ dp.

In October, 2010, Dangerous Ponies recorded a Key Studio Session. Listen to it here.

DRGN King | Photo by Kate Bracaglia

Philly’s DRGN King just wrapped up a spring tour, and it left frontman Dominic Angelella sonically inspired. This morning we bring you the premiere of a tour mixtape he compiled, which ranges from folks they shared stages with to hearty van jams. From Dominic:

“Last month, my band Drgn King went on our first tour ever. This isn’t such a momentous occasion for most people but it was very exciting for us. We met some great bands on the way, saw people we knew play mind-blowing music, and listened to a lot of bizarre records in the minivan. This mix focuses on friends of ours we listened to/hung out with/drank with on the trip. hopefully you all enjoy this as much as we do. Hidden somewhere in the mix there’s a Drgn King song that didn’t make Paragraph Nights. It was too quiet.”

Minivan Problems: A Spring Mix by Drgn King

1. “The Sykesville Strawberry Festival” by Boat Water (from Home is a Place To Give)
2. “20 Different Days” by Eros and The Eschaton (from their Bandcamp)
3. “Cocaine and Guns A$AP” by Ape School (from Junior Violence)
4. “Dedicated” by Grande Marshall feat. Saudi Money (from #MUGGAMAN)
5. “Pusher” by Walking Shapes (from Soundcloud)
6. “Sparks” by Dangerous Ponies (from Tenderheart)
7. “Eldersburg Fun Arcade Near The Fashion Bug” by Boat Water (from Home is a Place To Give)
8. “Pretty Lil’ Preacher” by Drgn King (scrapped from Paragraph Nights)
9. “The Iceman” by Norwegian Arms (ripped from Youtube)
10. “Accessory” by Neighbors (from I Love Neighbors)
11. “TLW are Deaf” by Trans Upper Egypt (from North African Bezerk)
12. “Erica Western Teleport” by Emperor X (from Erica Western Teleport)
13. “Sleep It Off” by Asaad feat. Drgn King (from Dirty Middle Class)

Up and coming rap artist Pusha T will be playing at Union Transfer tonight. The artist is one half of rap duo Clipse, who are responsible for six studio albums. Having been gathering more and more attention from the media for a single with Odd Future member Tyler, the Creator, Pusha T’s first studio album My Name Is My Name will be released in May of this year. Tickets and information for the 18 and up show with DJ Damage and DJ Aktive can be found here. Watch a music video for Pusha T’s “Trouble On My Mind” featuring Tyler, the Creator below.

Philadelphia hometown rock band Low Cut Connie will be playing at Johnny Brenda’s tonight. Combining elements of soul, funk, and thriving rock n’ roll, Low Cut Connie provides an aura of bouncing spirit and passion for music. Their second album Call Me Sylvia was released in September of last year. Tickets and information for the 21 and up show with DRGN KING can be found here. Below, watch the group’s hit song off the new album “Boozophilia”.

Mason Porter will be playing World Cafe Live in Wilmington tonight. The group brings together the sounds of folk, as well as rock and blues, and with that, combine an array of harmonies meant to impact a part of the listeners. The group has been relatively quiet in terms of music releases within the past three years, as their last release was their full length Story of the Rifle in 2010. Tickets and information about the all-ages show can be found here. The link below is a video of the group playing their song “Ain’t Got No Home” at the Philadelphia Folk Festival in 2012.

Dangerous Ponies | Photo by John Vettese

We had a blast catching the excellent Philly pop troupe Dangerous Ponies in Austin, Texas last week for the MilkBoy / Bonfire Philly-centric SXSW showcase. They’re lively as ever, the new tunes are sounding great, and it’s always impressive to see how they squeeze their many members onto stages of various sizes. With their new Tender Heart 7″ in heavy rotation, we’re excited for their return to Philadelphia next weekend when they play MilkBoy for an EP release show.

Equally awesome is the opening set from power duo Slutever, who were also out on tour this winter and home just in time for the gig. The duo has been working up new material since their Pretend to be Nice 7″, and in the meantime treated us to their raucous cover of Hole’s “Violet” in a free download. With inbetween sets from touring bands from Utah and NYC, it’s sure to be a solid night of Philly-centric lady-centric rock and roll, and we’ve got a pair of tickets for you. Just comment below and you’ll be entered to win; we’ll choose a winner next Thursday. To get your pumped, listen to “Sparks” from the Tender Heart EP and Slutever’s “Violet” cover.

The Great Unknown are also celebrating a record release tonight over at Johnny Brenda’s.  The local five-piece are setting forth So Strange and Loud into the physical world, following the album’s digital release last May.  With reflective melodies and intricate arrangements, the The Great Unknown strive to make connections with their audiences both through live performance and recorded material.  Tickets and information for tonight’s 21+ show with KC Jones and Ali Wadsworth can be found here.  Below, stream “The Laws of Energy” from So Strange and Loud.

XPN welcomes Martin Sexton to The Landis Theater tonight.  The singer-songwriter is a quintessentially American musician, blending a variety of traditional playing styles including country, rock, gospel and R&B.  Following up his 2010 LP Sugarcoating, Sexton released his Fall Like Rain EP last year.  Both efforts come after his commercial breakthrough with 2007′s Seeds, which debuted at #6 on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart.  Tickets and information for tonight’s all-ages show with The Alternate Routes in Vineland, NJ can be found here.  Below, watch Martin Sexton perform “Can’t Stop Thinking ‘Bout You” with John Mayer.

Dave Hartley continues his busy start to the year with a Nightlands show at the Arden Gild Hall tonight.  The solo project of the War on Drugs’ bass player, Nightlands released its sophomore effort Oak Island last week.  The album fuses Hartley’s affinity for mystery and sci-fi with rollicking melodies and percussion, creating layer upon layer of rich textures through overdubbing and tape machine manipulation.  Hartley spoke with ArtInfo recently to share some of his recording techniques and tricks; read the full interview here.  Tickets and information for tonight’s show with School of Seven Bells can be found here.  Below, watch the video for “I Fell In Love With a Feeling.”

Atlanta-based singer-songwriter Kelly Hogan performs tonight at World Cafe Live. A longtime backup singer for Neko Case, Hogan released her country-tinged LP I Like to Keep Myself In Pain this year, which features songs written for her by the likes of M. Ward, Stephin Merritt and the late Vic Chesnutt. Tickets and information on the show are available here; below, watch Hogan performing “Haunted” at her NPR Tiny Desk Concert.

Chamber-folk singer-songwriter Anais Mitchell returns to Philadelphia tonight to perform at Johnny Brenda’s with Cuddle Magic, the Philadelphia / Brooklyn psych collective that occasionally acts as her backing band (but not tonight). The 21+ show begins at 9 p.m., more information is available here. Below, watch the music video for “Coming Down” from Mitchell’s breathtaking 2012 album Young Man in America.

Philly pop purveyors Dangerous Ponies play their last show of 2012 tonight at The Blockley in University City. They open for Reptar and Rubblebucket, and will showcase a bunch of new songs that will be on their next full-length, due out in 2013. The 21+ show begins at 8:30, tickets and information are available here. Below, watch a video of the Ponies performing at a costume party.

WXPN welcomes Mark Eitzel, lead singer of San Francisco cult favorites American Music Club, to the North Star Bar tonight. Eitzel is touring behind Don’t Be A Stranger, his 2012 release on Merge Records. The 21+ show begins at 8 p.m., more information can be found here. Below, listen to “I Love You But You’re Dead” from Don’t Be A Stranger.