By Shain Shapiro

Fond of Tigers is one of those acts that is genuinely difficult to
describe on paper. In essence, the Vancouver–based sextet is a
jazz band. That is why they are coming to Guelph, to perform as
part of a jazz festival. But jazz, like any useless one–word
musical description, is full of potholes, and placing Fond of Tigers
within its borders illuminates such descriptive faults. In Stephen
Lyons, the guitarist and principle composer, one does not have a
dyed–in–the–wool contemporary jazz musician. In discussing
influences, Slint and Shellac come to mind more than Miles Davis
or John McLaughlin, as the music he pumps through the veins of
this project swell with more punk and post–hardcore ethos than
anything remotely traditional or contemporary. Yet, aside from all
this, Fond of Tigers is, in essence, a jazz band. They do not
employ a vocalist, enjoy mingling with each other underneath
complex time signatures and improvise the hell out of their
songs. So is this description at all helpful here? It may not
position the band as an easy listen, as they are not. But they are
a rewarding listen, one that reveals more with each take, whether
it be metal ardour or fusion wizardry.

"I think the key to our pushing jazz's boundaries is the fact
that we don't actually play jazz," comments Lyons. "Maybe we're
pushing from the outside of those boundaries, rather than from
within. Jazz is such an inconstant and dynamic term, so if we're
being called jazz, I hope it is in the sense that we're playing, on
our own terms, a creative and idiosyncratic music with passion,
intensity, and drive." That sure is true, and their two albums to
date illuminate this brilliantly. The most recent is Release The
Saviours, released by violinist Jesse Zubot's Drip Audio label.
Both albums are heavily improvised bodies of work, but as Lyons
explains, the modus operandi altered slightly with album number
two, allowing more room for each improvisational exercise to
flourish.

"In essence, both of the albums are live albums. The first, A
Thing to Live With, was recorded entirely live with no overdubs. In
addition, all the musicians, drums and amps were in the same
room and we used no headphones. This caused a bit of
difficulties as far as being able to hear each other properly while
trying to get some separation in the mix. For Release the Saviours
we retained the ability to track live, but were able to get more
separation, because of the layout and equipment of the facility. .
We used headphones this time around, and our amps were
isolated in separate rooms. We also allowed ourselves the luxury
of a few overdubs. Overall, we opted to include some pretty
abstracted improvised pieces here. A lot of shows we play are in
rock venues, so it's pretty difficult to really focus on
improvisation, so I find the studio a great place to really explore
that side of the group. We have a full record's worth of such jams
I feel really good about, but a lot of them were left off the record
because we decided on a certain overall structure of the album,
which favoured certain pieces over others, regardless of their
inherent individual worth."

While the music is complex, it remains accessible, ultimately
blending what could be called jazz with punk, or post–hardcore.
Some sections are loud and distorted, while others are soft and
melancholic, as each player trades solos or melodic interludes.
"When I put the group together, I wanted to marry the sonic
textures of improvised music with the heavy, crafty power of
post–rock/math–rock bands like Slint and Shellac," explains
Lyons. "I wanted the best of all worlds: the atmospherics of
improvisation and the solid certainty of composition, played with
the muscular abandon of post–hardcore. I think we accomplished
that with this record."

"I think that is because the rhythms came naturally, and are
usually hairier and more irregular when I play them by myself
than when they eventually solidify as a song with the entire band
piping in about arrangements. Teaching a part to others
necessitates some formalization, and the writing process usually
involves me improvising and cycling through a lot of rhythmic
variations, somewhat unconsciously. As the part starts to take
shape, I play it again and again, adding variations in a more
formal and intellectual way, but certainly based on the physical
feeling of moving parts around. Also, regular 4/4 time generally
makes me uneasy, and doesn't feel good to me. Even an extra
beat thrown in every few additions will help mitigate the caged–in
feeling regular time gives me, which often explains the odd
signatures throughout the songs."
So whatever they are, go see Fond of Tigers this week at the
Jazz Festival. If you're a fan of Metallica or Mahavishnu
Orchestra, you'll find something to love with this band.

http://www.echoweekly.com/viewstory.php?storyid=7368

Release the Saviours is the latest missive from Fond of Tigers, a seven-piece juggernaut helmed by guitarist Stephen Lyons that tends to send critics scrambling for their pigeonholes ("math-rock," "avant-jazz," "ambient," whatever). The pieces here stretch out even further than on their debut A Thing to Live With, and the band dwells longer in the quiet ambient/improv end of the pool this time around. Nice, but the real moments to treasure are still the full-on blasts of brainiac prog-rock bombast, where the band homes in on some insane crooked time-signature riffs and stylistic U-turns. The meat of the album comes in two ferocious epics, "Pemberdunn Maple Wolfs" and "A Long Way to Temporary." The former covers a fairly wide territory, from angry, knotty rhythms to pulsing catharsis to something like a supercharged bossa nova. The other track is narrower in focus: it begins with a little prelude, with drummers Skye Brooks and Shanto Bhattacharya ripping into a mutant hambone pattern, but the real core of the track is a tight, up'n'down groove that teeters between euphoria and claustrophobia. Despite the track's fuzzed-out volume and twitchy rhythms, the combination of busy surface elaborations and gradual long-term development isn't all that far from Steve Reich. Great stuff.

Fond Of Tigers - Release The Saviours (Drip Audio, 2007) ****½

"Fond Of Tigers" is a Vancouver band which defies categorization : it's instrumental rock, it's jazz, it's prog rock, it's repetitive minimal, it's violent, it's high energy, it's extremely well-organized and timed, it's structured, it's avant-garde, it's emotional, it's free. The band consists of Shanto Bhattacharya on bass, Skye Brooks and Dan Gaucher on drums, JP Carter on trumpet, Stephen Lyons on guitar, Morgan McDonald on piano and label owner Jesse Zubot on violin. Their rhythms and rhythm changes are as excellent as they are unexpected, reminding of King Crimson (and the cover could be KC too!), they have the weird energy and full band wall of sound kind of approach like Soil & Pimp Sessions and the sense of adventure of the Chicago Underground Duo/Trio. And that's a compliment, there are lesser bands to be compared to. But the band's great success is that they actually are beyond comparison with an unbelievably strong musical unity throughout the album, regardless of the variety of approaches. Their unrelenting drive, creativity and emotional content make this a unique band, worth checking out by anyone interested in modern music. The band's musical accessibility, eclecticism and high quality is a guarantee that music lovers from many different horizons will enjoy their approach. Highly recommended.

Fond of Tigers

Hailing from Vancouver, Fond Of Tigers have consistently pushed their complex polyrhythmic sound to the outer reaches of math rock. While listeners will likely be reminded of mid ’90s post rock bands like Tortoise and Don Caballero, it’s Fond Of Tigers’ unpredictable song structures and unconventional (at least by math rock standards) instrumentation that propels their music above and beyond the trappings of the genre. At the core of Fond Of Tigers sound is jazz: percussive, fluid, complex, and sophisticated. Built upon that foundation are jagged guitar and vibraphone motifs, countered against twisting violin and horn melodies. Most interesting is how the highly orchestrated, time-signature-hurtling, and occasionally chaotic moments are juxtaposed to more melodic, introspective passages and expanses of minimal sonic manipulation and experimentation. Whether it’s full out free-jazz skronk, gentle, meandering melodies, or sound manipulation, Fond Of Tigers are always cohesive and fresh. Their second full length, Release The Saviours, is available now via Drip Audio records. www.fondoftigers.com

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.
"Not that I have anything against them, they just don’t enter into the discussion too often, if at all," says Lyons. "It just seemed like a good combination of words in a phrase for a band name.
"I’m like that with song titles and album titles, too, like the new CD Release the Saviours. It sounded good."
Many reviewers have been quick to assume that Lyons must be fond of northern European ’70s progressive rock -- à la Can, Neu, Van Der Graaf Generator -- and the outer realms of jazz fusion. This is also not the case. The wildly inventive music crafted by Lyons, pianist Morgan McDonald, trumpeter JP Carter, drummers Dan Gaucher and Skye Brooks, bassist Shanto Bhattacharya and violinist Jesse Zubot is the sum of its very diverse parts.
"Honestly, Run DMC was my favourite band for years. I wore one of those St. Patrick’s Day bowlers and would pretend to be one or the other of them, mostly DMC. Sorry, Run."
"This began with me solo, then the others came on and we kept adding members to the mix to create a more and more organic, improvisational sound."
It didn’t happen overnight, either.
When the group’s debut, A Thing to Live With, was nominated for a Western Canadian Music Award for Instrumental Recording of the Year, few knew that this was the cumulation of five years of activity. It took this long for Lyons to find the right players and define what he wanted musically. At the onset, the band was as much about what he didn’t want as what he did.
"I didn’t like playing shows where it was song after song. Unless something happened improvisationally, it wasn’t a good performance for me."
Fortunately, there is a strong community in town for exploring the points where math rock, freak fusion, ambient electronics and pummeling rhythms come together. Fond of Tigers is all of these things. The band is the rarest of creatures: A group as at home opening for Tortoise as for a metal act or a be-bop combo. The only constant is that this band full-out rocks. It has built this cred as a live force by sticking together, which isn’t easy given how in-demand all of the members are.
"There used to be a lot of moving in and out with shows. Depending on who was there, we would play with or without members. But I didn’t like where that was going because it seemed more like a ’project’ than a band. There is no doubt that this is a band now."
"It makes the new album all the more stronger, with each of the members more up front and all over the session. Morgan has really determined where he wanted to be in the sound and the double drummers are clicking."
Fond of Tigers has two strong, and quite different, albums to its credit. The latest is out on violinist Jesse Zubot’s Drip Audio label (www.dripaudio.com) and boasts a very complex collage cover design courtesy of Lyons. Besides making layered music, he enjoys crafting multi-image montages.
sderdeyn@png.canwest.com

Fond of Tigers
Release the Saviours
[Drip Audio]
by David Nadelle

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.

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. It’s easy to call it "jazz" because its instrumental, has horns and the musicianship and song structures are all top notch, chock full of all kinds of odd time signatures and strange time changes, but calling it jazz really doesn’t describe what’s going on here, or truly represent what this strange, strange music is all about. The press release that came with the CD instructs record store employees to file the record under "avant-rock," which, though more evocative then the jazz handle, also doesn’t really capture what is going on here, as there isn’t really any rock to speak of, excluding perhaps some heavy beats from the rhythm section.
The song’s on the band’s second release, Release the Saviours, change so drastically from the beginning of a track to the end that what appears to start off as a quirky mid-tempo piece, sounding like something that wouldn’t be out of place as the intro theme for a PBS show about gardening or home decorating, ends up in a crazy, squawking free jazz jam. The record as a whole reminds me of some of Frank Zappa’s instrumental figures and breakdowns, where a song changes drastically almost every 24 bars, employing all kinds of strange and dissonant harmonic intervals that shouldn’t really work but for some reason do when played by musicians brave enough to try, (I imagine that if you can stretch the definition in such away that Frank Zappa is a "rock musician" then the maybe the appellation "avant rock" does suit Fond of Tigers after all). It’s the kind of music that changes so much during the course of one track that you’ll be a little shocked to realize when you look at the cd player’s digital display that all the weird and varied sounds you’ve been listening to for the last 7 or 8 minutes have in fact just been the chimera that is track 2.
As difficult as it is to describe this band’s music, it is infinitely easier to describe their fan base. This is not the kind of music a casual music fan will probably enjoy; it’s the type of music that requires active involvement from the listener; in other words it’s music designed for music aficionados, who recognize and care about time signature and key changes, like to be challenged and pride themselves on noticing things like that. This might be one of those records only other musicians will really be into. Which isn’t to say that it isn’t good or that it isn’t a cool record, because I think it’s both. It’s the kind of record that takes a few listenings to really get a feel for what is going on. Unfortunately, for the vast majority of the listeners, music is a passive undertaking, requiring almost instant gratification to make any sort of inroads. I’m sure the guys in the band realize this; it’s probably why they choose to make music that is sonically challenging like this rather then say, playing in a 12 bar blues band or something of that ilk.

To Fond Of Tigers’ credit, you could never accuse them of being dull. It’s as if fear of missing out on a good idea means that they have to cram in as many as possible, and if it sounds a little messy at times, then so be it. Release the Saviors is a bit like a rollercoaster – full of unexpected turns, the occasional loop-the-loop, and the odd plunge that you’re never quite prepared for – but never dull. After repeated trips there’s still something that catches you unaware, and listening to this album reveals itself differently on every listen.

A seven piece led by guitarist Stephen Lyons and hailing from Vancouver, Fond Of Tigers could lazily be described as rock musicians going on a jazz exploration, although that doesn’t mean it’s recognisably jazz. There isn’t much soloing going on here, the drummers (there’s two) don’t tend to swing, and there are numerous moments when they delve into math-rock. The music’s DNA definitely features a large chunk of Larks’ Tongues In Aspic-era King Crimson, another band who were unafraid to improvise; King Crimson’s ability to turn on a penny from monster riffage to delicate solo violin is also present in Fond Of Tigers (you’ll notice it about 30 seconds into the opening track "Hebvark").

Second track "Pemberdunn Maple Wolfs" crashes in with an all-out assault on the senses before a trumpet siren riff cuts through – and it sounds uncannily like the two note pattern used by Brian Eno on "Discreet Music" except sped-up and, well, it’s not quite so ambient what with all the drums. The trumpet occasionally disappears off to do some low-key improvisation before being dragged back into the tumultuous whirlwind of noise that the rest of the band conjure up. Just when it seems they can go no further, Lyons takes charge and steers them onto a wider expansive theme. In the face of the tremendous drum and bass assault there’s little for the more melodic instruments to do but cling on for the calmer coda.

Elsewhere the septet build the tracks around tight, muscular riffs played with a Battles-like intensity. The rhythmic structure of "Dreaming Of Betrayal, Awakening Refreshed" is so off-kilter the band collapse into a free jazz skronk-out before dissipating into tranquility. The album’s highpoint, "A Long Way To Temporary," is built around a hypnotic pattern which shifts subtly throughout its fifteen minute duration – the violin drives a Philip Glass-style arpeggio over which the trumpet wafts and weaves: what is undoubtedly complex music is rendered pleasingly accessible.

The presence of a trumpet in the group gives the occasional echo of the Electric Miles Davis period, although it is much more obvious on the two more introspective pieces, which are similar in mood to In A Silent Way. However, these impressionistic works lack the sheer visceral excitement of the other tracks. A hint of Satie-esque piano here, a muted trumpet there… the tension doesn’t really build, there’s no real moment of release – even when the drums kick in on "Born Again Ready" it barely registers.

When Fond Of Tigers apply a bit of structure to their work – a circular drum and bass rhythm, or an arpeggio to give a base for their improvisations – they are very impressive. When they attempt the looser works they come unstuck, and while a full hour of careering jazz riffs would probably be too intense for the listener, balancing it up with tracks that lack form and direction probably isn’t the way to go. Miles relied on Teo Macero to get the razor and sticky-tape out and give his lengthy improvisations some shape, and it sounds like Fond Of Tigers need a similar focusing hand.

In City Of Glass, Douglas Coupland’s personal guide to his native Vancouver, he writes that the city is at its best when the inhabitants are experimenting with new ideas, an observation which can equally be applied to the city’s own Fond Of Tigers – instead of ending up in an indulgent muddle, Release The Saviours is an album which at times (to quote Coupland again) dazzles with a sense of limitless possibility.

-Jeremy Bye

http://exclaim.ca/articles/multiarticlesub.aspx?csid1=118&csid2=4&fid1=29290

Been waiting for an excuse to visit Moose Jaw in the Fall? Why not check out the Western Canadian Music Awards on October 21st. We're nominated for "Outstanding Instrumental Recording of the Year", as is Jesse Zubot's "Dementia".
For more informantion on this stuff, you can look at http://www.wcmw.ca/awards/2007_nominees.html