Fairytale Aliens is the magical fruit of an intense and close collaboration between M'lumbo and Helmet's leader Page Hamilton on multi-grammy Ropeadope. While Page has appeared as a special guest in concert and on the Popular Science album, here he is fully featured as member of this trio edition of the band with an outrageous interpretation of Helmet's hit "In The Meantime" thrown in to boot.
M'lumbo was founded in the mid-80's by Robert "M'botto" Ray and "Zombie" Ron Boggs as an escape from commercial music. They were then in, amongst other things, a "rock" band managed by Mick Jagger's manager which included Page Hamilton. To their surprise, early handmade cassettes began selling briskly at local record stores leading to radioplay on over 100 U.S. stations and many rave reviews.
They have since been featured on over 300 public, college and progressive radio stations worldwide, including syndicated shows featuring their music. They and their multimedia crew have done commercials, films and work for MTV, MTV 2, Chrysler, Mini Cooper, and Hyundai; and have drawn countless enraptured reviews, received an ocean of comparisons to Miles Davis, Sun Ra and The Orb, and praise from such disparate avatars as Simpsons' creator Matt Groening, Brian Eno, Carly Simon, DJs Olive and Spooky, Neil Young and Tom Waits, and have influenced several bands along the way (e.g. Sex Mob, Either/Orchestra).
M’lumbo has given countless enthralling performances over the years at both the original and second Knitting Factory (and even the third), as well as at numerous other NYC venues such as Joe's Pub, S.O.B.'s, and St. Anne's Cathedral, with opening acts such as Neotropic, Sean Lennon, Badawi, Mantronix, virtual reality inventor Jaron Lanier, Jojo Meyer's Nerve, dj Muttamasik and Duncan Sheik, with constant recommendations of their shows by Time Out New York, The New Yorker and the Village Voice, and feature articles in The New York Daily News, New York Newsday and New York Press.
Over the years in its different incarnations the band has released albums on labels such as Warner Brothers, Staalplaat and World Domination. Group members have worked as sidemen, directors, editors and sound designers to a host of world-class artists and clients ranging from MTV to Chrysler, ESPN to Abbey Lincoln, Mazda to Luther Vandross, Methodman to Pacha Massive, Gil Evans to P Diddy, Pharrell to Pearl Jam.
For the past few years, they have been combining forces with guitarist and now member Page Hamilton, the “six-string virtuoso” (Time Out New York) who founded and leads the wildly influential and Grammy- nominated band Helmet; with Grammy Award winner Jane Ira Bloom, the possessor of “one of the most gorgeous tones and hauntingly lyrical conceptions of any soprano saxophonist” (Pulse); and with the eclectic and virtuosic Gary Lucas, “one of the best and most original guitarists in America” (Rolling Stone). Some of the fruits of these collaborations can be heard on their recent releases Celestial Ghetto, Tuning In To Tomorrow and Popular Science, on the last of which they returned after long hiatus to wild reinterpretations of famous pop culture “standards”.
credits
released March 20, 2020
All Songs performed and arranged by Robert Jordan Ray Flatow, Paul-Alexandre Meurens and Page Hamilton
Robert Jordan Ray Flatow - Keyboards, Suitcase Symphonetta, Ectoplasmic Radio, Bass, Electronic and Acoustic Percussion, Producer, Assistant Engineer, Voice and Harmonica
M'Lumbo is a New York multimedia band that crosses the boundaries of Rock, Electronic, Psychedelic, Jazz, and World Music
with over 14 recordings and recent collaborations with Jane Ira Bloom, Page Hamilton (Helmet), and Gary Lucas.
"It's Mickey Mouse, The Stanford University marching band, Santana and Syd Barrett rolled into one...borders on genius"- Baltimore City Paper...more