Songs that feel like going to the dentist...
May 6, 2022 10:40 AM

a little uncomfortable, but very refreshing.

I'm looking for songs that have a discordant feel, yet are emotionally satisfying to you. The closest relatable non music experience I can think of is having all the gunk scraped from your gumline at the dentist's! I'm not limiting the genre because I think this question is specific enough, but the artist Meg Lee Chin inspired this question. Examples:
Thing
Swallowing You
posted by Eyelash to Media & Arts (22 answers total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
The version of the Star-Spangled Banner in Southland Tales by Rebekah Del Rio is creepily enjoyable. IMO.
posted by theredpen at 10:50 AM on May 6, 2022


The Taxpayers' God Forgive These Bastards: songs from the forgotten life of Henry Tuner is worth a try. (Also, I hadn't heard this artist. Thanks!)
posted by eotvos at 10:51 AM on May 6, 2022


Instrumental, but the first thing that came to me is I Am Filthy by Erik Friedlander.
posted by forbiddencabinet at 10:56 AM on May 6, 2022


Velvet Underground, Waiting for the Man
posted by praemunire at 11:06 AM on May 6, 2022


Nautilus by composer Anna Meredith
posted by rollick at 11:21 AM on May 6, 2022


Also an instrumental, Reborn by Colin Stetson
posted by BozoBurgerBonanza at 11:36 AM on May 6, 2022


Natasha & Bolkonskys from the now defunct musical Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 has some really great discordant harmonies.

I also recommend Shit Luck by Modest Mouse which has felt epically relevant to me lately.
posted by bleep at 11:43 AM on May 6, 2022


The first thing that comes to mind is everything by Pavement.
posted by rhizome at 12:13 PM on May 6, 2022


Noir Desir by Vive la Fete
posted by rollick at 12:17 PM on May 6, 2022


I'm not sure I have anything as "out there" as the examples above, but the ones that I thought of (as enjoyable yet discordant) were:

"Bohemian Like You" by The Dandy Warhols
The song "Africa" being sung in Gaelige
"Amsterdam" by Coldplay
"Your Love is a Lie" by Simple Plan
"Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden
"I'd Die for this Dance" (Twins motion picture soundtrack)
"Unfriend You" by Greyson Chance

That last one was pretty iffy (maybe all of them for that matter).
posted by forthright at 12:50 PM on May 6, 2022


The Butthole Surfers. They can sound like a dentist drilling a cavity or like respectable pop/rock music, often in the same song
posted by The_Vegetables at 1:05 PM on May 6, 2022


Giant Sand -Glum Giant Sand occasionally does the discordant thing.
posted by The_Vegetables at 1:12 PM on May 6, 2022


The other Velvet Underground mention above made me think of Heroin, especially the last couple of minutes.
posted by jabes at 1:38 PM on May 6, 2022


Inner Universe by Origa
Velveteen by Ilaria Graziano
(both from Ghost in the Shell anime soundtrack)

I find that postrock as a genre often fits this description for me - a lot of buildup, leading to a noisy, discordant "high" and then some sort of (musical) release.
Examples:
Moonlight by Mono
A Poor Man's Memory by Explosions in the Sky
posted by gakiko at 1:48 PM on May 6, 2022


Zombie.
posted by dono at 1:56 PM on May 6, 2022


Also postrock: Sigur Ros - Glósóli
posted by gakiko at 1:59 PM on May 6, 2022


Pavlov’s dog
Robin Hitchcock
The Electric Fields
posted by slimeline at 3:01 PM on May 6, 2022


Pavement, e.g. “Cut Your Hair” and Lightning Bolt, e.g. “2 morro 2 morro land”
posted by hellogoodbye at 4:12 PM on May 6, 2022


Thanks for all these great responses! I've really enjoyed listening to all of these and will come back to see if there are more that get posted later. Favoriting the ones that made me want to go back and listen again right away, but all of these have been on point and it's awesome that they cover such a range of genre. The Vive la Fête song is totally stuck in my head now :)
posted by Eyelash at 4:19 PM on May 6, 2022


Chrome Country
posted by niicholas at 9:03 PM on May 6, 2022


A lot of songs by My Bloody Valentine, e.g. Only Shallow
posted by rollick at 4:16 AM on May 8, 2022


Ventolin by Aphex Twin is an instrumental about asthma, but it sounds uncomfortable enough that it could also be about dentistry.
posted by Furnace of Doubt at 1:15 PM on October 14, 2022


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