View Full Version : Emotionally Disturbing Music
Stuff that is seriously upsetting.
What have you got?
An obvious starter is Joy Division - tracks like Passover, Dead Souls, New Dawn Fades always used to get to me. I'm immune to it "These Days", though, but still appreciate it enormously.
So what gets to your inner soul or makes you run for the Kleenex as I know some of you out there cry to music. What rips you apart internally?
Nice festive thread. Tis the season to be disturbed...:D
Shadow Moses
10-12-2016, 13:56
https://youtu.be/0MjUdEmVDwUKorn - Daddy
Kills me every time, especially when Davis loses it towards the end.
As a fully fledged and widely recognised grinch I love this thread.
I'm taking this to be about moving music rather than the out and out bleak, of which I own lots...
Bit of Godflesh always provides an outlet for my darker emotions. This track 'Anthem' being one of their more melodic moments.
http://youtu.be/6UDnjhQHfUA
Radiohead - Videotape.
http://youtu.be/isETL6R7x2w
Beck - 'Waking light' from the morning phase LP. Chokes me up pretty good.
http://youtu.be/ixtNYSiNyO4
Clifford.T Ward
10-12-2016, 14:12
The opening section of "Tubular Bells" by Mike Oldfield was selected because its changing 7/8 , 8/8 time signature was considered to create an uneasy feeling in the brain and hence it's choice for the fil "The Exorsist "
Much of Cohens earlier stuff... like the partisan and Chelsea hotel.
Kimmie Rhodes bluebird and yesterday as both were played at wifes funeral. Most of the tracks of Carole Bayer Sagers first album of same name...a beautiful album, if youve not heard it
RobbieGong
10-12-2016, 14:27
Emotionally moving I can handle, disturbing no.
Passionate energy and conviction I love in any genre :)
Always found this quite touching
https://youtu.be/MNwNf6hpd0c
HackneyRF
10-12-2016, 15:21
This is a fun thread....Loads of songs do it for me but one particularly springs to mind and that is 'Persephone (The Gathering of Flowers) by Dead Can Dance. I've always prefered Brendan Perry's voice in DCD but Lisa Gerrard's vocals on this one always leaves me in a crumpled heap!
RobbieGong
10-12-2016, 15:24
Donny Hathaway - musical genius and 'the soul voice' of all soul singer voices in my opinion.
This one touches me and shivers me like not much else can - just beautiful https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cv1B0ejhFVE
and one for the world - live, effortless genius in all HIS glory https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcfGSJB1YvQ
then theres hope right here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsn9cwQWzzA&list=RDjsn9cwQWzzA#t=60
Anything by Oasis/Blur/James and the like gives me the boak does that count?
HackneyRF
10-12-2016, 15:35
Anything by Oasis/Blur/James and the like gives me the boak does that count?
+1, if 'The Boak' means ya don't like it too much!
rigger67
10-12-2016, 15:40
The Macarena - Los del Rio
The Ketchup Song - Las Ketchup
Oops Upside Your Head - Oddysey
Wannabe - The Spice Girls
The Birdie Song - The Tweets
Dancing Queen - Abba
Never Forget - Take That
Agadoo - Black Lace
Anything that requires dance steps to be learned and passed down through generations.
Anything that gets Joe Public off their backsides at about half ten at any party anywhere in the UK.
Anything that is considered a "wedding reception classic".
I actually stopped DJing weddings when someone came up to me and asked if I could "play some cheese".
Yes, I'm a music snob.
No, I don't care.
I find the songs listed above to be insidious and a form of brainwashing that the masses do to themselves.
The love for Take That in particular staggers me.
Yes, they're nice blokes - apart from Robbie who's a cock in denial about pretty much everything - but their music is just generic, formulaic pop.
How they've been elevated to the same level as The Beatles by millions of people is beyond me ..
Abba were incredibly talented but I don't care for their stuff, least of all DQ - a guaranteed floor-filler, unfortunately.
Oddysey also made some good music, but that whole sit down in a line thing just makes me angry for some reason ..
So, yeah ... I am emotionally disturbed when in the presence of any of these songs being played.
walpurgis
10-12-2016, 15:57
I don't find any music disturbing. I'm just going to bung on some Marylin Manson! :eek:
The Macarena - Los del Rio
The Ketchup Song - Las Ketchup
Oops Upside Your Head - Oddysey
Wannabe - The Spice Girls
The Birdie Song - The Tweets
Dancing Queen - Abba
Never Forget - Take That
Agadoo - Black Lace
Anything that requires dance steps to be learned and passed down through generations.
Anything that gets Joe Public off their backsides at about half ten at any party anywhere in the UK.
Anything that is considered a "wedding reception classic".
I actually stopped DJing weddings when someone came up to me and asked if I could "play some cheese".
Yes, I'm a music snob.
No, I don't care.
I find the songs listed above to be insidious and a form of brainwashing that the masses do to themselves.
The love for Take That in particular staggers me.
Yes, they're nice blokes - apart from Robbie who's a cock in denial about pretty much everything - but their music is just generic, formulaic pop.
How they've been elevated to the same level as The Beatles by millions of people is beyond me ..
Abba were incredibly talented but I don't care for their stuff, least of all DQ - a guaranteed floor-filler, unfortunately.
Oddysey also made some good music, but that whole sit down in a line thing just makes me angry for some reason ..
So, yeah ... I am emotionally disturbed when in the presence of any of these songs being played.
The thing about DQ is that it is an excellent song. It is also a bit vomit inducing. It's just too perfect a pop song. But the subject matter is dross and the "coolness factor" of liking Abba is petrifyingly low. Like much of the other material you mention.
Disturbing? Yes. But not in a good way. But then is disturbing ever good? I think it is. The fact is there are deeper, darker sides to life and the human psyche, and music that explores these areas was primarily the reason for the thread. Ian Curtis did it superbly and the depth of his lyrics really was a bit unexplored. I'm not sure many have got there before or since.
Another kind of disturbing is just noise as explored by bands like Napalm Death and Extreme Noise Terror. I'm not a fan of that, either.
rigger67
11-12-2016, 19:16
I know what you mean.
It's a bit like horror as a genre.
We shouldn't enjoy being scared, but we do .. same thing here. I think it's about challenging ourselves and ultimately stimulating the brain in unusual ways to keep life entertaining.
That's partly what the joy of the journey is all about with music, too - always finding new stuff to listen to, whether if it's decades old or a new artist.
I don't like Joy Division personally, but I can appreciate why so many do.
I think The The were up there in the darkness stakes for a while, with Soul Mining especially, though their music was often too catchy to be classed as disturbing.
I loved that thing about the timing of Tubular Bells triggering stuff in the brain.
That's fascinating, and probably key to why so much classical music can be so moving, whether in a eurphoric sense or a more gloomy, emotionally down sense.
walpurgis
11-12-2016, 19:38
If you can find any, listen to 'Artificial Memory Trace'. It's not truly music, but could be called Electroacoustic Constructions. Some may well find it disturbing.
As I said. I find no music disturbing.
I've never seen a movie that I've found scary either. Creepy maybe though. Roman Polanki's classic 'Repulsion' is renowned for creeping folk out.
Ah Matt Johnson and Jools Holland in their prime. Yup it definitely had/has a real sense of depth too it aligned with fantastic sonics. Not as disturbing as JD, but there is a definite sense of being at unease with the way things are. Even if we are just symptoms of the moral decay that's gnawing at the heart of the country:D
Trent Reznor is pretty good at disturbing.
So I think we need some disturbing classical refs please someone?
https://youtu.be/11KOFvXtg2g?t=12
This in the day was and did live up to its name Thankfully someone nicked my copy;) May be valuable but so is my mind
rigger67
12-12-2016, 14:30
Johnson was bang on, wasn't he ??
"The wars on the televisions will never be explained
All the bankers gettin' sweaty beneath their white collars
As the pound in our pocket turns into a dollar
This is the 51st state of the U.S.A."
Could've been written yesterday but it was 1986.
THIRTY YEARS and nothing has changed ..
I like the way you worked the lyric in to your reply.
Chapeau, mon ami, chapeau :smoking:
I quite like a bit of Marilyn Manson and loved his Killing Strangers from the John Wick OST - cracking movie, too :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34jC1fmeFD0
So I think we need some disturbing classical refs please someone?
I'm sure there are lots of examples but soundtracks would be an obvious starting point.
Cape Fear is one that springs to mind, from the always excellent Bernard Herrmann:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QH3RhbVP7cA
Then a few choice Hitchcock's like Vertigo and Psycho, again both by that man Herrmann (even his name means Mr Man in German :eyebrows:)
I'm looking forward to seeing what some of the classical experts suggest .. maybe a bit of Mahler ?? He always seems pretty dark and heavy to my ears. Possibly some Wagner, too ?
Oops Upside Your Head - Oddysey
The Gap Band? (and I'm sorry I know that)
https://youtu.be/11KOFvXtg2g?t=12
I missed this in the day. Really curious listen. Interesting stuff. Well done Grant!
WRT "This is the 51st state of the USA" he really did come out with some stonking lyrics.
I'm looking forward to seeing what some of the classical experts suggest .. maybe a bit of Mahler ?? He always seems pretty dark and heavy to my ears. Possibly some Wagner, too ?
Classical guys are keeping quiet, obviously. They're too disturbed to post:D!
The key to disturbing music is not to be disturbed by it but appreciate it for what it is. Otherwise its a downward spiral...
Which brings is onto stuff like this. Great to learn on an acoustic as its quite simple to play. Great on a piano. Great in all the below versions.
There's a danger of being too wet in self pity with some stuff and this is a bit borderline IMHO. But it just about gets away with it. It is a classic. Trent does a good job of mixing moments of true beauty with despair on a lot of the NIN material.
Original version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPz21cDK7dg
Piano version (poor SQ but good):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQRmCy6LfjI
Cash version. Bit miserable for a last song before he died but hey:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FywSzjRq0e4
rigger67
12-12-2016, 16:19
The Gap Band? (and I'm sorry I know that)
See ?? :eek:
Part of my subconscious plan to forget all these records is working .. if I can't remember the artists it won't be long before I forget the title and then the tune itself :eyebrows:
Arkless Electronics
12-12-2016, 16:30
I find anything by Stock Aitken and Waterman deeply disturbing.. I'd run a mile to avoid hearing any Kylie or Jason:eek:.... and don't get me started on the whole '80's nostalgia thing.... it's depressing enough that an era one remembers as only yesterday is now regarded by a younger generation in the way I would think of the sixties (which I'm just too young to remember...)... FFS that makes me feel old! But it had the worst music of any decade as well (chart stuff, "on the telly and radio " stuff anyway).... all that glitter and cleanness and white socks and highlights in hair... ARRGHH!!! Anathema to a biker/hippy! I can hear distant roto-toms and smell a wiff of setting gel... RUN!!
It disturbs me to think how long ago that was.
The only music I can think of that disturbs me is Jeff Wayne's War Of The Worlds. It freaked me out as a kid and I still can't listen to it now. Think it is Burton's narration that tips me over.
Arkless Electronics
12-12-2016, 18:06
It disturbs me to think how long ago that was.
The only music I can think of that disturbs me is Jeff Wayne's War Of The Worlds. It freaked me out as a kid and I still can't listen to it now. Think it is Burton's narration that tips me over.
I always thought it "hamming it up" and couldn't take it seriously...
It disturbs me to think how long ago that was.
The only music I can think of that disturbs me is Jeff Wayne's War Of The Worlds. It freaked me out as a kid and I still can't listen to it now. Think it is Burton's narration that tips me over.
Great album. I love it....mind you i was older when it came out i suppose
I think I was 11 or 12. Not sure now. Was round at a mates and he put it on. I had to go home it creeped me out so much.
rigger67
12-12-2016, 18:10
It disturbs me to think how long ago that was.
The only music I can think of that disturbs me is Jeff Wayne's War Of The Worlds. It freaked me out as a kid and I still can't listen to it now. Think it is Burton's narration that tips me over.
That's a great shout and another genre : sci-fi.
Amazing book, two brilliant films and one stonking soundtrack/concept album.
Do you have the remix albums ??
They're really good too and well worth digging out.
Burton's voice was amazing, but they made a good choice with Morgan Freeman in the Tom Cruise version, didn't they ?
One of my guiltiest secrets from childhood was to persuade my mum to buy the album for me as we would be reading the book at school.
A blatant lie, but it was worth the money in terms of the number of times I listened to it .. on double cassette too !
I've since bought it on CD and vinyl - at last - with that amazing booklet that accompanies it.
Going back to the 80s stuff again, I think synthetic music naturally lends itself to the sinister.
Another track that didn't scare me but certainly stirred something was The Human League's Darkness from their Dare album.
Some of the later Depeche Mode stuff is up there too ..
walpurgis
12-12-2016, 18:19
I always thought it "hamming it up" and couldn't take it seriously...
I remember thinking it was pretty corny.
vinyljunky
13-12-2016, 21:23
nurse with wound the bottom feeder
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJi88sWZ3MY
The visuals looks a lot like Tool videos from Salival! The difference is that Tool actually provides music with their music videos! :p
I thought I'd have a go at an acoustic version of Joy Division's Passover (https://1drv.ms/u/s!ApUl1xxOUo0lg3wl9iKXHR9z7olG).
Best of three takes. Still not great but I can't be arsed to do it again.
Listen at your own risk! Recorded on an old Rowland Edirol R-09-HR, resting on my chest! 44.1KHz 16 bit. The actual SQ is good, but the singing and guitar playing... er... :D
Smile as you will please. Nice cheerful Xmas ditty no doubt.
That was pretty good. I was hoping it would be more emotionally disturbing though. You are clearly too happy to channel Ian Curtis. ;)
If you want really disturbing you should hear my version of Jingle Bells:D
https://youtu.be/amS8eGOFNa0
The lyrics of A Way Out (http://sofasound.com/phcds/oowlyrics.htm#8)
09mike69
18-12-2016, 23:39
gary jules version of "mad world".
Haselsh1
19-12-2016, 05:02
Emotionally disturbing or emotionally moving music...? If the latter then I would have to say the piece that moves me the most is 'After The Ordeal' by Genesis. This piece moves me so much I would like it played at my funeral. It conjures up the most incredible feeling of sadness and melancholy and has most unbelievable chord structure and melody line.
Emotionally disturbing or emotionally moving music...? If the latter then I would have to say the piece that moves me the most is 'After The Ordeal' by Genesis. This piece moves me so much I would like it played at my funeral. It conjures up the most incredible feeling of sadness and melancholy and has most unbelievable chord structure and melody line.
Just checked that out. I find it emotionally uplifting. Not saying I'd listen to it or Genesis in general, but I think I see where your coming from with it.
nurse with wound the bottom feeder
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJi88sWZ3MY
Steve, that's just dodgy mate lol. You might like this though.
http://youtu.be/AsLikh8VqCo
vinyljunky
20-12-2016, 09:53
Rich that's very dark reminds me of coil or certain cabaret volitaire tracks if you listened to the full album I wouldn't be suprised if you searched eBay for razor blades
This is a little challenging, particularly live...The Haxan cloak
9iBaQrDW544
Haselsh1
20-12-2016, 12:43
Just checked that out. I find it emotionally uplifting. Not saying I'd listen to it or Genesis in general, but I think I see where your coming from with it.
I guess music doesn't disturb me in that way. People being shot through the head disturbs me emotionally, music does not so whether uplifting or sad and melancholy, music moves me emotionally. I think there may be a big difference.
This is a little challenging, particularly live...The Haxan cloak
9iBaQrDW544
Hm. Named after a 1922 horror film. Interesting listen definitely it paints an interesting vibe.
I thought I'd have a go at an acoustic version of Joy Division's Passover (https://1drv.ms/u/s!ApUl1xxOUo0lg3wl9iKXHR9z7olG).
Best of three takes. Still not great but I can't be arsed to do it again.
Listen at your own risk! Recorded on an old Rowland Edirol R-09-HR, resting on my chest! 44.1KHz 16 bit. The actual SQ is good, but the singing and guitar playing... er... :D
Smile as you will please. Nice cheerful Xmas ditty no doubt.
Now I am not really recommending anyone listens to this as it is a bit of a one take live mess, but I played it on the Apogees the other night for the first time.
Two things struck me:
1) I couldn't believe the amount of power registering on the Accuphase power meters for any given volume level. Far more than I would expect from a commercial recording. Is this just because there's no compression used, I wonder? There's certainly no obvious clipping through out as per loudness wars tracks.
2) The SQ isn't as good as I thought it was. Sounds fine on the 2nd system and my Ultimate Ears Bluetooth speaker, but the vocal is distorted more than I thought, even beyond my attempts to make my voice sound shaky and therefore disturbed (didn't work that well and actually Curtis doesn't do it - he sings it quite clearly). Odd as the auto recording level of the recording device should have stopped it, but it hasn't.
Doubtless hours spent in the studio with Martin Hannett with his wall of sound of Tannoys and spooky sound effects, and it would have been better. Dream on...:)
This is a little challenging, particularly live...The Haxan cloak
9iBaQrDW544
For me, after a serious in the right mood listen to it, this is the best post on the thread. No lyrics, but there is a lot of conviction here to a cause. Painting aural vibes like this takes a lot of skill and a hell of a lot of effort for probably not much in the way of mass appreciation. I rank it top stuff with obvious niche caveats.
Thanks.
rigger67
23-12-2016, 10:09
This is a little challenging, particularly live...The Haxan cloak
9iBaQrDW544
Yep !
Seriously loving this, mate - absolutely brilliant.
So atmospheric .. and check out those sub-bass notes :D
Always found the accompanying video to Schism by Tool to be disturbing!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytBLjXhw-6U
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