Dream Usher » something simple

TONEAudio: Something Not So Simple

Will — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:15:24 +0000

Marc Phillips takes You Inside The World of Stuart Davis
TONEAudio issue #16, pages 57-61

“I have known about singer-songwriter Stuart Davis for over a decade, ever since a friend of mine bought me the Nomen Est Numen CD as a Christmas present. I’d never heard of Davis before, and I assumed it was another one of my friend’s pet projects, another struggling unknown musical act he had decided to befriend and support…I was ready to throw Davis into the same camp until I actually sat down and listened to the CD. I immediately noticed the intelligent lyrics, which were evenly balanced between the playful and the knowing…”

Download the pdf of TONEAudio issue #16

TONEAudio loves Stuart Davis

Will — Mon, 05 May 2008 22:23:30 +0000

The current issue of online audiophile magazine TONEAudio features a positive, substantial review of Stuart Davis’ new album Something Simple ( “consistently excellent” ), and reviewer Marc Phillips promises there is more to come:

“Stuart Davis is one of the most intelligent and spiritual men in the independent music scene. His lyrics are literate and clever… His clear, confident singing voice is unusually expressive and digs deep into your brain. …[Davis is] contemplating the universe with wide-eyed wonder — and a devilish grin.”

“I’ll be writing a feature about him in the next issue. Until then, you should get ahead of the curve and buy Something Simple before Stuart Davis is totally fucking famous.”

Download the pdf file of TONEAudio issue #15 and turn to page 25
(extremely large file; right-click to save for best results)

Coming Later: Download the pdf of TONEAudio issue #16

Blogger fails to detect sarcasm in “Sky God”

Will — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 18:08:41 +0000

…but he likes the bonus audiobook disc. From PopMatters.com

“[Stuart Davis'] newest record (or at least the version I received) contains a bonus sampler of his 2006 audio book Love Has No Opposite… Stuart has no shame or, apparently, fixed religion, which makes for some really interesting streams of thought in his aural prose. Sadly, with the possible exception of “Sugar Bullets” and its keen innuendo, his music doesn’t often hit the same level that his mind is at. Something Simple is indeed something simple, and though there are the odd tracks or turns of phrase that force you to question the state of things, it all comes off like a Christian pop or adult contemporary album (check “Sky God”).” Continue reading “Zen and the Art of Sodomizing a Robot in Front of Your Ex-Girlfriend” at PopMatters.com

Local scene

Will — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 20:07:10 +0000

Some interview snippets in this trio of local reports about Stu’s new album and tour, from Des Moines Register, Iowa City Press-Citizen , and Shepherd Express Milwaukee.

Des Moines Register
March 26, 2008
Davis much more than a singer
by Joe Lawler
There are a lot of layers to Stuart Davis.The singer-songwriter is a multimedia renaissance man, a practicing Buddhist and, according to him, an “unknown rock star.” He also shaves his entire body, and sometimes covers it in paint. Davis, who was born in Des Moines, returns home Friday for a show at the Vaudeville Mews. He talked with us about some of his many ongoing and upcoming projects.

THE STUART DAVIS SHOW
Last year Davis started his own comedy series on the You Tube and the Integral Naked Web site. Davis co-stars with his wife and two clones representing the Buddhist and hedonistic natures of himself. Each episode also includes a new music video.”I had reached a point where I had been touring nonstop for 10 years and wanted to spend time with my wife and kids,” Davis said. The second season is filming right now.

MOVIES
Davis’s song “Already Free” is featured in the upcoming Owen Wilson film “Drillbit Taylor.” Davis wrote the song as a favor to Steven Brill, his friend and the film’s director. Brill became a fan of Davis and originally tried to get a TV show based on him on the air. Davis wrote the song based off five minutes of footage.Later this year, Davis plans to make his feature-length directorial debut with the film “Twisted Mystics.”

“The premise is kind of like ‘Fight Club’ meets ‘I Heart Huckabees,’” he said. “Characters from the mythical traditions of the world are frustrated with fundamentalists and start an underground group to kidnap key figures in the world to force them to evolve.”

BOOKS

Davis is finishing up his autobiography, “Sex, God and Rock and Roll,” which he admits from the get-go is a fictional memoir. The book will be published through Random House’s Shambhala imprint.

“It’s all written, except for the end,” he said. “That’s tough to figure out in an autobiography. Should I die at the end? Maybe I’ll live forever.”

MUSIC

Davis’ new album, “Something Simple,” is released in stores next month. He plays a CD release show at the Maintenance Shop in Ames April 26.

Davis made an interesting admission about what he has been listening to lately: the ex-Mrs. K-Fed.

“I’ve been working out to Britney Spears lately,” he said. “She’s really popular in my house, thanks to my 4-year-old daughter. She’s really into the song ‘Toxic.’”

Iowa City Press-Citizen
Thursday, March 27, 2008
CD reviews: Stuart Davis “Something Simple”
by Jim Musser
For the past 15 years or so, Minnesota native Stuart Davis has created some of the most intriguing, provocative and uncompromising pop music on the planet. A dynamic, spell-binding performer with a powerful, elastic voice, dazzling guitar chops and rapier wit, Davis applies an imposing intellect to lyrical constructs which reconfigure (or bypass altogether) traditional forms to bring Zen-informed spirituality to the subjects of life, death, love, God, sex and — in small doses — even pop-culture.With the release of “Something Simple” (his 11th full-length disc), the singer/songwriter seems poised for a larger profile. Heavyweights Ryko-WEA are distributing the CD nationally, with the same planned for re-issues of his entire catalog this year.Easily his most accessible and hook-laden album yet, the Alex Gibson-produced “Something Simple” is packed with heady, danceable tunes, mixing taut reworkings of the hypnotic “Nothing In Between,” the sassy “Sugar Bullets” and longtime crowd-pleaser “Universe Communion” with new gems like “Already Free,” “The River,” “Wand,” the Talking Heads-flavored “Deity Freak” and the Elvis C.-inspired “Twisted Mystery.”Emotionally generous and intellectually challenging, this is great pop music that’s actually good FOR you.(Stuart Davis will perform at his CD-release party at The Mill, 120 E. Burlington St., March 29 — 9 p.m., $11 cover.)

Shepherd Express Milwaukee
Monday, March 24,2008
Stuart Davis
Tonight @ Shank Hall – 8:00 PM
By Shepherd Express Staff
Like Moby, power-pop singer-songwriter Stuart Davis has a prominent bald dome and a propensity to share his philosophical and religious musings with anyone who will listen. Go to his Myspace pageand you’ll find curious videos of him debating himself. “I don’t observe Christmas, I’m a Buddist,” he tells himself in a video titled “Zen and the Zen of Zen.” “Dude, being Buddhist doesn’t preclude participation in common social ritual,” he responds. The video continues for another 11 minutes. A one-man Waking Life, Davis requires a certain amount of open-mindedness (and patience) to appreciate, and the fact that he’s working on inventing his own language called “IS” won’t make him any more popular with the masses who just want to have a beer and hear some music. Davis plays an 8 p.m. show at Shank Hall tonight.

Take a look, its in a book!

Zeitgeist — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 15:36:23 +0000

Check out stuartdavis.com today to see its wacky new look. The new album is out today, so be sure to check it out . It’s available to buy from the store.

On a sidenote today, I also have to pimp a friend’s book that came out today, The Patisseries of Paris.

More thoughts on the new disc

Zeitgeist — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 17:31:21 +0000

Will points out that AllMusic has a short writeup here and also there’s this from the Duluth Budgeteer (free reg. req.).

something sampled

Zeitgeist — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 18:07:02 +0000

Sorry for the continuous pun-ishment re: the album title . Anyway, on to the point of the post, which is that, as Dee said in comments, you can check out samples for the whole album on Amazon by going here.

something shimmery

Zeitgeist — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 05:45:17 +0000

Just ask USA Today’s Listen Up…

something sneaky

Zeitgeist — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 14:37:57 +0000

If you haven’t heard it yet, the first single (featured in the movie Drillbit Taylor), Already Free, has made its way onto YouTube and is viewable as the first clip in StuTube. I say viewable as it is running underneath a slideshow of cool stuff about Stu.

new look

Zeitgeist — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 18:43:06 +0000

In celebration of the new album and the new year, I am rolling out a new theme and continuing to update the old audio, lyric, and other pages to more thoroughly integrate the various parts of the site. Look out for more of that as time goes by. Hope you like the new visuals. Thanks, K, for your invaluable input on that as it progressed.