"AMBITIOUS" (NPR) DEBUT ALBUM BY LEYLA MCCALLA HAILED BY NY TIMES, PITCHFORK AND BEYOND AS FAST-RISER PLAYS SOLD OUT SHOWS IN NYC, PHILADELPHIA, AND BOSTON

Leyla McCalla's debut album 'Vari-Colored Songs: A Tribute to Langston Hughes' has been hailed by the New York Times and others as she's played sold out shows in New York City, Philadelphia, and Boston on her debut headlining tour. NPR aired a 17-minute profile of the cellist/songwriter/singer/

banjo player.

She's also the subject of a full-page interview profile in Pitchfork Media that tells her story from being born in NYC to pioneering unconventional cello techniques to performing Bach and trad jazz in New Orleans to joining the Carolina Chocolate Drops to her discovery of Haitian folk music and the creation of 'Vari-Colored Songs.'

Here's what we're reading:

"Her magnificently transparent music holds tidings of family, memory, solitude and the inexorability of time: weighty thoughts handled with the lightest touch imaginable."
- Jon Pareles, New York Times, February 14, 2014

"Her playing--on cello, tenor banjo and guitar--suggests a perpetual spring, giving these songs about losing innocence and finding death a vibrancy that fits their folk music function. Her voice is a velvety purr that's both wise and bright, not unlike the surreal sophistication of Jolie Holland's best work."
Grayson Currin, Pitchfork Media, February 7, 2014

"Leyla McCalla redefines the cello… Stunning... [a] rich mix of sounds,.. McCalla earns the literary company with her dark-toned songs. Her unusual cello style also matches the poetry in terms of sheer invention."
- Jim Farber, New York Daily News, February 7, 2014

"Evocative."
- Mark Jenkins, The Washington Post, January 30, 2014

"A beguiling album in the way it pulls the listener in distinct directions. At once unvarnished and sparse, like field recordings in high definition, it’s also rich with the organic suppleness."
- James Reed, The Boston Globe, February 1, 2014

"Ambitious, deep, and gorgeous."
- David Kunian, Offbeat Magazine, January, 2014

"Impressive… a fully realized and nuanced gem."
- Steve Leggett, All Music Guide

"Striking."
- Charlie Heller, New York Post, February 7, 2014

"Beautiful."
- Mark Zaretsky, New Haven Register, February 13, 2014

"Delightful… hypnotic and hybrid, with exotic echoes of an older world made fresh by the thoughtful passion of McCalla's interpretation."
- Alison Fensterstock, New Orleans Times-Picayune, February 5, 2014

"What a voice, more Billie Holiday than anything, flourishing in such bare surroundings and bringing the words, whether joyous or dark, to life... As arranger, musician and vocalist she’s a remarkable talent, and this debut is assured and a harbinger of a towering career."
- Chris Nickson, Sing Out!, December 31, 2013

"DELIGHTFUL" (PITCHFORK) NEW CAMPER VAN BEETHOVEN 'LA COSTA PERDIDA' OUT THIS WEEK ON 429 RECORDS AS BAND TAPES NPR WORLD CAFÉ AND NPR MOUNTAIN STAGE THIS WEEK

429 Records released indie rock pioneers Camper Van Beethoven's new album 'La Costa Perdida' this week, which has earned raves from press and bloggers. In addition, the band is taping NPR's World Café today and NPR's Mountain Stage on Sunday and has added new tour dates (at bottom). Here's what we're reading:

"Delightful… It does illustrate how unique this band still is, 30 years after it formed. And it truly is a kick to hear CVB ply its craft with road-tested assurance and subtly virtuosic musicianship."

– Steve Hyden, Pitchfork Media, January 17, 2013

"For 30 years and counting, Camper Van Beethoven have existed in a parallel-universe borderland, coming across like a punk band perpetually on a Balkan bluegrass bender. But they finally bring it all back home to their native California on 10th album, La Costa Perdida, recalling '60s-vintage West Coast pop filtered through their timeless, idiosyncratic prism."

– David Menconi, SPIN, January 14, 2013

"I'm so happy the band is back."

– Whitney Matheson, USA Today.com, January 18, 2013

"The new album’s lead single, 'Someday Our Love Will Sell Us Out' [is] a swirling, Eastern-flavored psychedelic jam."

– Michael Nelson, Stereogum, January 10, 2013

"A uniquely skewed, bong-tastic surrealism… There's Americana, Mexican music, ska, fiddles both mournful and manic."

– Thomas Connor, Chicago Sun-Times, January 19, 2013

"Camper Van Beethoven still remain [sic] easy to love."

– Matt Melis, Consequence of Sound, January 21, 2013

"If the frigid air of winter is getting to you, rather than crank up the heat, throw on La Costa Perdida. It will wipe away all your seasonal depression."

– Steve Bonanno, Boston's Weekly Dig, January 7, 2013

"Engaging."

– Chuck Campbell, Scripps Howard Newswire/Knoxville News-Sentinel, January 15, 2013

"[The] writing glimmers in thick San Francisco Bay fog… Enter these redwoods at your own risk, and prepare to be bewitched."

– Tris McCall, Newark Star-Ledger, January 4, 2013

"Sure to satisfy… It’s an album unmoored in quiet, often fascinating ways."

– Matthew Fiander, PopMatters, January 21, 2013

"Northern California Girls" (radio edit) lyric video.

Postable, embeddable "Someday Our Love Will Sell Us Out" mp3.

CVB Tour dates:

Wed Jan 23 - Sky City – Augusta, GA

Thu Jan 24 - 40-Watt Club - Athens GA

Fri Jan 25 - The Grey Eagle – Asheville, NC

Sat Jan 26 - The Earl – Atlanta, GA

Sun Jan 27 - Mountain Stage - Charleston WV

Thu Feb 14 - Burnsville PAC - Minneapolis MN (w/ Cracker)

Sat Feb 16 - Rickshaw Stop - San Francisco CA

Sun Feb 17 - Hopmonk - Novato, Novato, CA

Mon Feb 18 - Odd Fellows Hall - Davis CA

Thurs Feb 21 – Hollywood, CA – House of Blues (w/ Leftover Salmon)

Fri Feb 22 - Tractor Tavern - Seattle WA

Sat Feb 23 - Mississippi Studios - Portland OR

"ADVENTUROUS" (ROLLING STONE) & "DELIGHTFUL" (PITCHFORK) CAMPER VAN BEETHOVEN READY FIRST NEW ALBUM IN NINE YEARS 'LA COSTA PERDIDA' FOR JANUARY 22 RELEASE ON 429 RECORDS

CREATORS OF INDIE ROCK GENRE CUT ALBUM TOGETHER IN ONE ROOM, DEPICTING CHARACTERS AND STORIES FROM NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

Camper Van Beethoven – the beloved, genre-mashing musical unit and one of the bands that created the indie rock genre – has confirmed its first album in nine years with 'La Costa Perdida' (January 22 / 429 Records). The release will mark CVB's first album recorded as a unit with the band cutting songs organically with all in attendance and produced entirely by the band's members. 'La Costa Perdida' vividly depicts untamed characters and bizarre experiences on northern California's coastline, where the band began its musical adventures.

Camper Van Beethoven is: Victor Krummenacher (bass, baritone guitar), Greg Lisher (guitars), David Lowery (guitars and vocals), Chris Pedersen (drums), Jonathan Segel (violin, guitar, mandolin, organ, backing vocals) and new addition Michael Urbano (drums and percussion).

Camper Van Beethoven have long held a place as influential pioneers of indie rock. Pitchfork Media called Camper Van Beethoven "great… assiduous creativity… inventive… delightful." SPIN has praised the band's "depth and worldly flavors," continuing, of its recent run in the 21^st century, "The band still rocks with the vigor of any young sprite." NPR says, "Their cryptic wit and dense, layered music offered rewards in repeated listening… blending genres of world and rock, translating current events into a swirl of witty banter and interpretation." Rolling Stone has raved about the band's "adventurous music."

On the making of 'La Costa Perdida,' Victor Krummenacher says, "The coolest part was that everything flowed from the fact that these distinctive musicians and personalities sat in the living room. Four people are writing it. The songs have great energy, but we're more relaxed and stately and a lot more confident."

Tour dates will be announced shortly.

La Costa Perdida Track List

1. Come Down The Coast

2. Too High For The Love-in

3. You Got To Roll

4. Someday Our Love Will Sell Us Out

5. Peaches In The Summertime

6. Northern California Girls

7. Summer Days

8. La Costa Perdida

9. Aged In Wood

10. A Love For All Time