| Stuart Davis (musician) |
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LYRICS, MUSIC AND PERFORMANCES Davis' early work is acoustic, Folky , and typically Indie . The early lyrics critique the materialism and irrationality of contemporary culture with irony, sarcasm, and biting humor. With the release of ''Kid Mystic'', Davis' work turns more inward and spiritual, but sustains the entertaining wit of his earlier work. Many of his recent lyrics reflect the struggle to relate to a divinity that is truly Transcendent , and yet equally Immanent . Later albums use a more extensive and electric instrumentation, and fall under the Power Pop genre. His recent work is comparable to Elvis Costello , Matthew Sweet , Material Issue , REM , and Live . Davis has covered songs by Elvis Costello and the Talking Heads . Although Davis' lyrics are informed by contemporary philosophical and spiritual issues, they also display a preoccupation with alternate sexual practices. In fact, one could say that Davis' work mediates between sensuality and spirituality. Davis practices Meditation in a Buddhist tradition, but he believes that religious traditions ultimately fail to transmit the transcendent events from which they spring. He has identified Ken Wilber , Pierre Teilhard De Chardin , Ramana Maharshi and Aurobindo as influences, and his work displays a deep understanding of Zen and Sufism . Davis' songs are populated by alcoholics, atheists, bulimics, drug addicts, egoists, false prophets, fetishists, sadists, masochists, narcoleptics, pedophiles, pornographers, prostitutes, rapists, sexual predators, suicides, swingers, and terrorists. (Stuart's lyrics are considered explicit and/or obscene by some libraries and retailers.) But his lyrics also describe angels, artists, gods, gurus, messiahs, mystics, prophets, psychics, saints, and wizards. There is a clear and constant religious component to Davis' work. In fact, the Mystical and transcendent themes render some of his songs able to be construed as Christian. This tension points to the profoundly Integrative aspect of Davis' thought—on his view, the theme of sexual deviance does not contradict the spiritual themes. His perspective is wide enough to coherently include much more of the human experience than most. Thus it is possible to see Davis as a mystical poet like Rumi , Kabir , Basho , Ikkyu , Rilke , or Emily Dickinson . Davis' performances include light improvisational comedy which, like his music, often mixes spiritual with sexual themes. This Repartee is evident on the live albums he has released. Davis is a prolific (some would say workaholic) performer, giving about 100 performances per year. Since the birth of his daughter, however, his performance tours have been less numerous. NOTABLE ALBUMS AND SONGS ''Idiot Express''
''Nomen Est Numen''
''Self-Untitled''
''Kid Mystic''
''Bright Apocalypse'' The '' depicts the spiritual development of someone who loses his traditional faith and embraces a more subtle, Nondual divinity. ''Stuart Davis'' The 2001 album ''Stuart Davis'' features nude photos of Davis in freefall and covered in silver Body Paint .
''The Late Stuart Davis'' Released in 2002 , ''The Late Stuart Davis'' is a live album that contained mostly new songs. Davis is displeased with the sound quality of the performance and intends to re-record the songs in the future. This fact is significant, because this performance included some of Davis' most musically complex and lyrically profound songs. The title of the album, reportedly contributed by philosopher Ken Wilber , refers to the death of the separate self that accompanies Enlightenment in Eastern Philosophy .
''Bell'' The 2003 concept album ''Bell'' described the life of an American girl who is also an incarnation of god. The Bodhisattva eventually confronts her Shadow and afterwards attains Enlightenment . The release of this album coincided with the birth of Davis' child, Arabelle. ''Davis Does Elvis'' In June 2004 , Davis released an album on his website that consisted entirely of Elvis Costello covers, entitled ''Davis Does Elvis''. ''Between the Music'' In 2006, Davis released two of the song "Good Weird"; footage of concerts in Boulder, Colorado , Chicago , Madison, Wisconsin , Omaha, Nebraska , Seattle , Los Angeles and the Netherlands ; interviews with (and by) Davis, his wife Marci, his colleagues, fans, etc. The DVD documents both Davis' extensive Spiritual Practice as well as his somewhat disturbing preoccupation with Nudity , Feather Boa s, Glowstick s, and shaved Genitalia , occasionally simultaneously. Psychedelic visual artist Alex Grey and his artwork appear and are discussed. It was Executive Produced by Ken Wilber . 2006 album Davis' next album will feature guest performances by Ed Kowalczyk of Live and Saul Williams . Davis describes it as "...not folk, it's not rock, it's not singer-songwriter, but it isn't a reaction against any of those important elements in my music." BUSINESS AND SUCCESS With the formation of Dharma Pop in 1998 (previously known as Post-Apocalyptic Records), Stuart created a new business model for artists. According to Davis' website, "Dharma Pop's purpose is to create music that amplifies awareness, and the formal elements of these songs (melodies, hooks, rhythms) are a Trojan Horse , sneaking mysticism into mainstream culture." Dharma Pop consists of volunteers, who manage Davis' products, websites and performances; "Punk Monks" who promote his shows; and investors. Thus Davis has succeeded in financing a professional multimedia company without interference by major labels. Davis has embraced internet technology enthusiastically, releasing lyrics, guitar tabs and .mp3 samples of all of his songs on his website. Each of his songs can be downloaded from his website for one US dollar. He also has several Bootlegs and a studio demo available, for a fee, on his website for download. Although Davis has received critical acclaim from those who have heard his music ( Ed Kowalczyk , the lead singer of Live , called him "The greatest lyricist I've ever heard", and philosopher Ken Wilber called him "a rare genius"), he has yet to receive recognition from the pop music establishment. In fact, Davis ridicules his relationship with the mainstream by calling himself "the Pop Pariah". Davis has toured the Netherlands , and has several songs about Amsterdam . He was once denied entry to Canada due to a failure to obtain the correct work permit. MISCELLANEOUS Davis has created an original language, called "IS", which uses a script that Davis also created. Characters from this script can be seen on the cover of Davis' most recent album, ''Bell''. Although Davis has declared his daughter to be the first native speaker (she was born in September of 2003), he says that he intends to record an entire album in the language at some point. Davis has a tattoo on his wrist that says " Memento Mori ". Stuart Davis is also a (semi-?)fictional character in Ken Wilber 's Postmodern novel, '' Boomeritis ''. Wilber and Davis are very closely associated, both personally and intellectually. Davis is the most accomplished poet of Wilber's Integral philosophy. Davis enjoys Newcastle Brown Ale . QUOTATIONS "Love has no opposite" :—Actually a quotation from J. Krishnamurti ( Chapter 10 , ''Freedom From the Known'', 1980). Davis (who, responding to this article, says on his blog that he has never read Krishnamurti, "at least in any waking-reality sense") calls it "his philosophy". "If Ramana Maharshi came from clay there's more to evolution than a little DNA" :—"Ladder", ''Stuart Davis'' "As we were before we were Is as we are after we are Is" :—" Dharma Drama", ''Bell'' "There's a light bulb in everyone bright enough to swallow the sun Earth and sky are all One Taste there is just the Original Face " :—"Original Face", ''Bell'' "Mysticism is creation seeking its source" :—'Twisted Mystic' website DISCOGRAPHY
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