It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon during the XPN festival in Camden, and a bunch of us were hanging out, sitting on the grass, and catching a sunburn while letting Jim James from My Morning Jacket rub his heartbreak vocals into our wounds when some friends suggested we head back to the other stage to catch BC Camplight.

“It’s real Brian Wilson-y,” was the comment that accompanied the headnod that summarily got us to our feet despite having found a perfect patch in the shade near a Ben & Jerry’s truck.

And so it came to be that (after catching another fun set from local bluegrass heroes The Lowlands) we got hip to the swirly rock sunshine of BC Camplight.

BC Camplight is the project moniker for the writing and musicianship of one Brian Christinzio, who plays all of the instruments on last year’s sparkling album, Hide, Run Away.

Christinzio says he wrote the album and “threw it on a credit card” to get it recorded with Brian McTear at Miner Street Studios last year. “Thank God it got picked up,” he says.

Meanwhile, Christinzio took a break from all the good things happening to indulge in a massive dose of recreational melancholy by scoring the soundtrack to our end-of-summer flings (yes, if done properly, this should be plural) and the various universal existential crises that makes us feel so individual.

If you take a few spins through Christinzio’s mix you’ll be all wallowed out by the time you catch BC Camplight this weekend at the Tin Angel on Second Street, where you can work on making your drinking seem “social” again.

I’ve Been Loving You, Otis Redding
Ohhhhhhhhhh! This song makes me feel like I’m at a funeral for everyone I know at the same time... Wait, no, it makes me feel like I’m witnessing my own funeral and everyone I love is there. Yeah, that’s it. The song makes me feel bad for myself. It also makes me sad because it makes me look stupid when I attempt to sing it. Nobody has soul like Otis... NOBODY.

Nessun Dorna, Luciano Pavoratti
There are a couple of songs on my list that give me a feeling as if I’m sitting alone in the middle of a beautiful church. Although God and all that stuff that nobody really understands intrigue me, I’m not a religious person. But for some reason I usually fall into a bad depression around Christmas. I’ll listen to Nessun Dorna around the summer time just to make sure that I’m completely miserable at least twice a year. Although it isn’t in English, it’s speaks a language that everyone understands, Italian.

Crying, Roy Orbison
If you can listen to Roy say “Cryyyyeeeyyyyyeeeyying over you” in that heart-wrenching falsetto and come through it unscathed than your either dead, almost dead, or Republican. I always thought that Danny Elfman more or less borrowed his whole style of scoring from the production of this era of song. Especially the female backing vocals that sounds like they were sampled from a 1930’s Disney feature. Although, Roy does go a little flat on the very last note. Go ahead check it out.

Don’t Talk (Put Your Head on my Shoulder), The Beach Boys
I love Brian Wilson. Not like I love a good sandwich... I mean I LOVE this man. I’m not special, many people do. Something about listening to a 6’4” 240-pound schizophrenic sing “Listen to my heart beat” sends me into a cry spiral. In addition to this, everything about the music is magical and so unbelievably sophisticated. If I can get all nerdy on you for a second, it is an absolute clinic in interesting chord arranging. He does this by using the third or the fifth of the chord as the bass note. The bass guitar also mimics a human heart.

Wig Wam, Bob Dylan
Everyone knows how great he is though it’s always been hard for me to connect with him on an emotional level. It’s hard for me to be sad listening to Dylan even if that’s my goal. This is perhaps because he portrays himself in such a cold and emotionless way. In this song, however, he sounds truly pained. There isn’t any weird imagery injected into my brain because he isn’t singing any words... and the song would suffer if he did. Just da da da’s and la la la’s. Sometimes that’s all you need.

To Be Loved, Jackie Wilson
A gut-punching, hopeful song. A perfect diddy about the search for the healing powers of love. You think that sounds cheesy. Well, assface, maybe you’re just insecure and are putting up some kind of a front because you know deep down inside that you ain’t the sh*t and you ain’t never been the shit. Jackie Wilson ain’t only the sh*t, he can sing you into a fetal position submission and then kick your ass. Oh, what a feeling to be loved.

Fairytale in New York, Pogues and Kirsty McColl
Another one of those songs that makes you feel so hopeful that you lose all hope. “It’s Christmas Eve, babe, in the drunk tank.” Finally, a beautiful sweeping love duet that isn’t all peaches and fucking cream. You ain’t gettin’ no “Love lift us up” bullshit here. How’s about this for a verse: “You scumbag you maggot. You cheap lousy faggot. Merry Christmas your ass I pray God it’s our last.” But somehow, just like in the real grown up world, they know they love each other through all the insults and bickering. This song makes me want to put on a Charles Dickens-y outfit and run, spreading the joys of the season, through snowy London. What?

Another One Goes By, Mazarin
Quentin hits the nail on its head. “I don’t know what to offer you. I’m only broke and lonely.” Just a great song from a great Philadelphian talent. He sings the whole song like he just realized he did something horrible. He is one of the only writers on the planet who place their psychedelic arrangements so prominently in the forefront and I actually love it. You know why? Because I believe him. I think that those crazy swirling echoes and deep reverbs are what he hears in his head all day.

You Don’t Have to See You Love Me, Dusty Springfield
Every time I listen to this song I say to myself, “Hmmmm it’s a little cheesy, why did I think it was so sad before.” Then the chorus rips around and kicks you in the chest. Great vocal.

Oh Holy Night, Perry Cuomo
This is the grand daddy of the powerfully sad songs. Especially this rendition. Most artists try to overpower the song with some fancy-pants vocal. Perry sings the song in a very understated way that lets the SONG be the emotion. This tune doesn’t need some chick with one hand on her ear and another waving in the air belting out every note. The whole point of this song (in my head) is that there is a power that dwarves the human being. Perry sings it as if he realizes he is only a grain of sand on the beach. For my money, the most devastating lines in music history “Fall on your knees. Oh, hear the angel voices. Oh, night divine!”

Honorable Mentions:
Sam Cooke: A Change Is Gonna Come, Sinead O’Connor: Nothing Compares To You,
Willie Nelson: Opportunity to Cry.

To listen to BC Camplight, go to www.bccamplight.com and www.myspace.com/bccamplightmusic. For tickets and info on the next show, to go www.tinangel.com.