Artist: B.C. Camplight
Album: Hide, Run Away
Label: One Little Indian
Tracks: 11
Length: 41:23
Review By: Jacob Gehman

B.C. Camplight is, as an artist, relatively new to the world at large. His music, however, contains that oddly familiar element that is both simultaneously disorienting and appealing. You could mash quirky artists like Badly Drawn Boy, The Flaming Lips, and The New Pornographers, along with something a bit more dramatic and feathery, and you'd come pretty close to "Hide, Run Away."

Indeed, this album is a trek in music recognition. For example, "Emily's Dead To Me," pulls a spot-on Randy Newman. There are definitely worse artists in the world to take your cues from and B.C. Camplight does a decent job of pulling it off. However, that kind of easy comparison does a good job of extinguishing much of one's raw enthusiasm for a song.

The title track is the best song on the album. It is dreamy with a touch of sadness while working in a really catchy melody. You could almost imagine it being sung in one of the old Disney animated movies, albeit in a more stripped down way. It is the songs that conjure up the mental atmosphere where you could be Oh-De-Lah-Lee-ing along with Robin Hood that succeed the most.

The one song that really provides a breath of fresh air is "Richard Dawson," which should not have been hidden away as the second-to-last track. It's highlight is the crisp, refreshing horns that steer the song around a clunky chorus that doesn't do anything to drive the album, or track, further. However, chorus aside, the song is a spark of energy that, were it sequenced better, would be a great pick-er-up around track three or four.

"Parapaleejo" sounds like an A.C. Newman (of the New Pornographers) track from the get-go, despite being heavier on the piano. But I suspect that had A.C. Newman written it he would have been very proud of it. It is quite catchy and I could see most New Pornographer fans getting very excited over an iTunes download.

It's not an uncommon theme for the songs on this album to seem very well written. Very few are terrible (though "Oranges In Winter" is a good example of a bad one) and for someone who isn't too educated in indie pop or oldies pop rock I could see this being a very good introduction to those realms. However, too much of what B.C. Camplight does feels derivative of other common artists to be an album that will gather much more than an "Oh, that's nice." reaction from the people who would normally appreciate this sort of music.