Let's Talk About Fond Of Tigers - Cont. & Western

Alright folks, I am going to retry an old idea.  I would like to talk about the 2010 release Continent & Western from Canadian Eclectic Prog band Fond of Tigers.  For those of you that are interested in discovering a new lesser known band and are tired of talking about Genesis, Yes, Rush, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, ELP, and Porcupine Tree here is your chance.  The album can be streamed in full on the band's Bandcamp page here.  http://fondoftigers.bandcamp.com/album/continent-western  If you like it, it can be purchased from the band for $6.  If you really like what you hear, their 2 prior albums A Thing To Live With and Release The Saviours are also available on Bandcamp.  There are only a combined 10 reviews of their 3 albums here on PA, and I think that they really deserve to be known better within our community.  They are an experimental 7-piece mostly instrumental band that include saxophone, trumpet, and violin for those that are tired of the same old guitar-bass-keyboard drum formula.  Here is their PA page if you want more info on them.  http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=3554

Edited by rushfan4 - November 23 2011 at 08:54

I actually really liked this album and Actress by Lobster Newberg.

What didn't you like about it compared to the previous two? 

I´m glad you did this Scott

About FOT: Been listening to the album, and I really like it. So cool to have a trumpet in the front of the band like they have. Really adds a quirkiness to it that I enjoy. Although often related to fusion acts - I find it more cabaret like here and slightly disorienting - in a good way though.
I am currently fond of tigers. 

Hehe - they just might be. Either way, they sound great. I love it when wind players push their instruments to the point, where they start resembling tortured felines - albeit in a slightly more melodic way.

Pretty cool.
And it certainly wasn´t their good looks and P-Diddy like appearance that helped them get that
Looks like a photo of the relaunching of an old school Nintendo console...

They're a fantastic band and I thought their most recent album was excellent. Unlike Rico I still like it a lot even if the previous one was indeed better.

I wouldn't have expected you to like this kind of stuff Scott, hats off to you for trying them.

harmonium.ro wrote: They're a fantastic band and I thought their most recent album was excellent. Unlike Rico I still like it a lot even if the previous one was indeed better. I wouldn't have expected you to like this kind of stuff Scott, hats off to you for trying them.

I have their 1st two albums from back in my eMusic days from back when I had 90 downloads a month and was more open to downloading albums from PA bands that I wasn't familiar with.  I figure if I am going to try this again I might have to try bands more outside of my comfort zone in order to find some that might appeal more to the regular PAers and since I hadn't heard their new album yet I thought this might be a good one to start with.  If I recall, Avestin once recommended them too in one of his threads

That is the problem sometimes with listening with half of an ear on laptop speakers while trying to get some work done.

Oh well it is Monday morning and so I might as well continue on as one of those crazy people that talk to themselves.  Giving Continental and Western another spin.  Apparently, there is little need to bother with these string of threads again as they seem to attract very little interest and leave me feeling as though I am mostly wasting my time.  Which I suppose is all that I am doing by spending time on this site anyways is killing and wasting time.  Being that Fond of Tigers is a 7-piece act there is lots of room for "growing" with this album since there are 7 musicians playing it is pretty easy to see how easy it is to hear new things every time you spin it.  I am loving the percussion and drum work on this album.  I am still not much of a fan of the horns but I suppose they grow a little less screechy with each listen.