Here’s an article from Montreal-based site Panpot.ca, featuring reflections on early records that influenced Wolf Parade’s Dan Boeckner, Signal to Noise’s Peter Gershon, Sir Richard Bishop of Sun City Girls, Fond of Tigers’ own Stephen Lyons, and others.
September tour dates:
September 3rd ~ Montreal, QC ~ Casa Del Popolo, with Special Noise and The Winks
September 4th ~ Toronto, ON ~ Tranzac, with Off World (Sandro Perri + Lorenz) and Canaille (Brandon Valdivia - drums Nick Buligan - trumpet Mike Smith - bass Jeremy Strachan - reeds Colin Fisher - reeds)
September 5th ~ Guelph, ON ~ Guelph Jazz Festival (afternoon workshop featuring Carter/Lyons/Zubot + nighttime full-band concert)
September 6th ~ London, ON ~ London Music Hall with guests the Riderless
September 7th ~ ON ~ TBA
September 9th ~ Ottawa ~ CBC Studios, Collaborating with Sandro Perri
September 12th ~ Victoria, BC ~ Lucky Bar, with Colourbook + guests
September 13th ~ BC ~ TBA
September 19th ~ Vancouver, BC ~ New Forms Festival ~ Open Studios, with the Secret Mommy Quintet
We’ll be heading east to play a handful of shows around this concert at the wonderful and eclectic Guelph Jazz Festival. Other acts coming to Guelph this year include Tortoise, John Zorn, and DJ Spooky. Here’s a link to their site.
Here’s a round-up of articles and reviews about the new Fond of Tigers album, Release the Saviours Read the rest of this entry »
Although the first sentence sits a little uncomfortably with me, here’s another great article from Vish Khanna in Exclaim! Magazine
Marketing Magazine has named us one of 10 Canadian Artists to Watch. Funny enough, Marketers made our top ten list of who we fear being watched by…
*Well, #1 on the !earshot jazz charts for the month of December. (!earshot charts reflect actual airplay on campus/community stations). Also #1 on Ottawa’s CHUO and #2 on Vancouver’s CITR this week (ending Jan 29th).
Sometimes, there really is nothing in a name. Take acclaimed Vancouver instrumental septet Fond of Tigers, for example. Far from making a statement of solidarity with endangered species, guitarist/founder/leader Stephen Lyons is somewhat ambivalent about cats.
This is a really well done review by CokeMachineGlow’s Mark Abraham
“seeing this band live proved a couple of things: first , the nauseating time signature play that undulates through their music like an urban landscape in real time is really that impressive, and, second, “Pemberdunn Maple Wolves” is some next-level shit.” Read more….
Fond Of Tigers‘ second album, Release the Saviours, is a mutant potpourri conjured from equal parts schizoid jazz, prog, math-rock, and whatever else the septet feels like throwing into its visceral mix. Bolstered by its double-drummer attack, Fond Of Tigers has evolved from its 2003 beginnings into a thunderous outfit that seems most in its element when indulging its bombastic side. Be sure to stand clear, for example, when epic incinerators like “Pemberdunn Maple Wolfs” and “A Long Way to Temporary” steamroll forth for a high-octane twelve and fifteen minutes respectively. A penchant for odd-metered time signatures isn’t a new thing, of course, but to its credit Fond Of Tigers never makes the proposition seem like a purely academic exercise. Translation: the group rocks, whether or not the tune’s in 4/4 or 5/4… Read more…
“Another thrilling kaleidoscopic set which defies classification— just the way we like it.
It’s been a very difficult task trying describe in words, the music of a band like Vancouver’s Fond of Tigers…”
Read more of this review from this great Montreal-based online music magazine
Jesse Zubot’s Drip Audio label has fearlessly connected the dots between rock, improv, electronics and more since its inception a mere three years ago. Now it gets more interesting as artists drop their second albums and the label gains more recognition. Fond Of Tigers’ new disc Release The Saviours ups the ante on the aggressive two drum kit-powered prog of their first album by boasting stronger songs. This band never fails to impress an audience.-David Dacks Exclaim! Magazine
Very quietly in Vancouver, British Columbia, Jesse Zubot is building his empire with Drip Audio, a label that releases an odd contingent of jazz, ambient, and experimental bands, many of which feature the master violinist himself. In Fond of Tigers, Zubot is one part of a seven-strong post-rock, experimental jazz juggernaut. I enjoyed the debut Fond of Tigers release A Thing To Live With, but its follow-up has moments that break my mind. “Hebvark” is a short blast but sums up what is so great about Fond of Tigers: the eager embracing of both the unhinged and the entirely conventional. From this opener, we go to who the hell knows where. The sound on Release the Saviours is often larger than life, with long periods of delicious, pulsating noise broken by ultra-violent displays of disorder. With a rock core of bass, guitar, and two drummers, as well as piano, Zubot’s violin, and JP Carter’s stunning trumpet work, the band invites comparison to Tortoise, especially on offbeat monsters like “Pemberdunn Maple Wolfs,” “A Long Way to Temporary,” and “Dreaming of Betrayal, Awakening Refreshed.” Ridiculously gifted and impossible to shove into any classifiable corner, Fond of Tigers was a beacon of hope in a year plagued by an excess of dull music.by David Nadelle
