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