Ahh, For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night .. What a marvellous album!
A very few years ago, I was temporarily staying in Longyearbyen in the norwegian arctic to do labwork at the university centre there. It was December, dark as the blackest night 24 hours a day and horribly cold. Most of the people I knew up there had left the island, so it was a very dark and strange place to be. I lived in a large barrack with shared kitchens where I was the only person. For a couple of weeks up there, I spoke to only a very few people.
It was at that time I first checked out musicbanter, looking for some online company as I was feeling quite lonely. However, I wasn't completely alone because right around that time, I discovered For Girls Who Grow Plump In the Night. I had a little mp3 player I would listen to as I walked through the gales down to the lab and a little radio with a mini jack input and I listened to that album
a lot. I even put some speakers in the bathroom once so I could listen to it while taking a long shower. It's auditorily distilled sunshine was a great spirit lifter in that kind of environment and it quickly became a bit of a love relationship with an album which was stronger than I'd felt in years.
It was definetly something about that situation and that environment which made the record stand out, though. When I got back to the mainland, my relationship with it sobered up a bit, but it remains a very strong Caravan favourite for me. I absolutely love the viola on the album and the orchestral arrangements towards the end are breathtaking. There are many fine little details, like the little hook some 3:45 minutes into "Be All Right / Chance of a Lifetime". I remember how, up there, after hearing the thunderous bang at the end of the record, I just wanted to loop back to Memory Lain. Brilliant album!
As for Cunning Stunts, I agree that it is enjoyable. You point out the highlights and I quite enjoy "lover", although I might agree that it doesn't really suit the band that well. No Backstage Pass is a gorgeous song and The Dabsong Conshirtoe is a fine piece of work
