BEST OF ORPHEUS®

Best Of Orpheus® Iris Music Group IMG-319 UPC: 884385204990 Produced By Alan Lorber

1. Congress Alley - from Orpheus 2. Music Machine - from Orpheus 3. I Can t Find The Time - from Orpheus 4. Door Knob - from Orpheus 5. Walk Away Renee - from Orpheus Ascending 6. She s Not There - from Orpheus Ascending 7. Borneo - from Orpheus Ascending 8. Roses - from Orpheus Ascending 9. It Gets Worse Every Time - from Orpheus IV 10. Monkey Demon - from Orpheus IV 11. Lucianne - from Orpheus IV 12. Big Green Pearl Ver. 2 - from Orpheus IV



This Best Of Orpheus collection honors 40 years-after the vital and unique creative contributions made to the group by writer, musician, artist, Stephen Martin, and bassist, writer Eric "The Snake" Gulliksen.

The album highlights the songs of Stephen Martin, who, although not a performing member of the group until Orpheus IV gave it a distinct personality, added dimension and artistic edge.

Eric Gulliksen, not a "groove bassist" but a bass-guitarist, understood the need for the bass as a supporting instrument, and treated his bass as more of a lead or melodic instrument, adding harmonies, color, accents and off-rhythms to the recordings, as well as low-end support.

"Stephen's music, in particular, was ideal for this," Eric remarks today. "It was a rare piece that didn't contain a surprise melodically or harmonically, and Steve's songs, more mystical and dark, provided me further opportunity to be unorthodox."

(Stephen & Eric record today as artist, STEPHEN & THE SNAKE. Their newly released CD single,"Heat Lightning"/"Left Hand, Right Hand", also on the Iris Music Group label, continues Stephen's mix of poetry, folk, blues, and jazz within mystical lyrical content.)

Stephen describes his lyrics as "strange scenes, existential revelations within the poetry, like word-painting--surreal landscapes, metaphysical questions," as heard in "Music Machine", "Door Knob", "Monkey Demon", "Big Green Pearl", which contain vivid flashes of dreams, real-life possessions. "Lucianne" is a song about individualism, and "It Gets Worse", voices a young man's confused view of materialism.

Eric, as a lyricist is more romantic, pragmatic. "Roses is a song about choices," Eric says, "missed opportunities, lost love and regrets within a blend of sparse instrumentation--a lonely guitar, minimal bass, sound effects, and ambient feelings, which I continue today in my recordings with Stephen."

The rest of the songs in the album are Martin's "Congress Alley", an autobiographical description of a creative community he started in Worcester, Mass, where Orpheus was born; the Orpheus hit, "Can't Find The Time"; the live show-stopper, "Borneo", and the still popular, "She's Not There" and "Walk Away Renee".

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