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Archive for the ‘Annie-Claude Deschênes’ Category

Annie-Claude Deschênes (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, September 16, 2026) [ANGINE DE POITRINE]

Posted in Angine de Poitrine, Annie-Claude Deschênes, Duchess Says, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts on September 16, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 16, 2026] Annie-Claude Deschênes

I am vey rarely ahead of a trend, but I think I found out about Angine de Poitrine about two days before everyone else.  I recall watching the KEXP show and thinking, wow, I want to see these guys.  And then like two days later, they blew up and everyone wanted to see them. The video went up on Feb 6 and by Mar 16, when this show was announced, I knew it would be hard to get a ticket.  Luckily, I scored a ticket (and paid $34, not $300).

Who even knew if they were going to have an opener.  Well, soon enough, the opener was announced as Annie-Claude Deschênes.  When I looked her up, I couldn’t find any music by her, which is weird since she has an album Les Manières de Table that came out in 2024.  And a new(ish) single from 2025.

So just who opens for Angine de Poitrine?  Well, Annie-Claude Deschênes is a performance artist and musician.  I have just learned that she was in a band called Duchess Says who were on the terrific alien8recordings label and put out three albums between 2008 and 2016.  Not sure what Annie-Claude was doing in the meantime, but she certainly hasn’t lost any front woman skills.

When the rumbling noises of her first song started, a man in a waiter outfit (bow tie, cloth, paper receipt) stood on the stage and shone a flashlight around.  Then Annie-Claude came running out and shouted the end of that first song.  The second song, Culinary Security was more dancey, but the music was very old school synth style.  Indeed, the bandcamp summary of her album says

Inspired by the pioneers of electronic music, LES MANIÈRES DE TABLE is as danceable and melodic as it is disquieting and dystopian. The album proposes to set the table differently by deconstructing the social codes of politeness, and draws from a wide range of influences, notably Steve Reich’s minimalism, Kraftwerk’s synthetic textures, Herbie Hancock’s stylistic diversity and experimental cinema’s unconventional approach to narrative.

The lyrics were in English and French and song three, Phones, saw Annie-Claude taking a (prerecorded) reservation.   I should mention that on stage this whole time was a small table and two chairs.  After this song, the waiter, who had been polishing the table, put flowers and several Reserved signs on the table.  Menace Minimale was more dancey and I enjoyed the way Annie-Claude moved in a robotic way to the synth blasts and chord changes. (more…)

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Angine de Poitrine (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, September 16, 2026)

Posted in Angine de Poitrine, Annie-Claude Deschênes, Duchess Says, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts on September 16, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 16, 2026] Angine de Poitrine

I am vey rarely ahead of a trend, but I think I found out about Angine de Poitrine about two days before everyone else.  I recall watching the KEXP show and thinking, wow, I want to see these guys.  And then like two days later, they blew up and everyone wanted to see them. The video went up on Feb 6 and by Mar 16, when this show was announced, I knew it would be hard to get a ticket.  Luckily, I scored a ticket (and paid $34, not $300).

I am still puzzled about their popularity.  Sure, the gimmick is a good one, but their music is weird and instrumental.  Since I don’t speak French, I resisted saying their name for a while, calling them “the polka dot band” for my family.  And then one day in the last couple of months, my wife was telling me how catchy she thought their radio friendly song Sarniezz was.  And I realized that even though they’re weird and play micrtonal jams, the songs are crazy catchy too.

When a band breaks it big like this, there’s always the assumption that people want to go just to be there.  And sure, people capitalized on the fame by scalping tickets for crazy prices.  But the people here were pretty seriously into the music.

Normally I can stroll up to a venue 15 minutes before the opening act and get a pretty great spot.  But I knew this would be different.  So I left straight from work and arrive in front of the venue around 6:15 and there was a line almost to the end of the block.  I parked and walked over and was able to stay on the entrance side of the street–before it curved around the block.  It was a good 35 minute wait for the doors, but everyone around was chatty and friendly and that’s okay by me.

When we got in, for the first time ever, everyone who was already in the venue was crowded around the stage (rather than at the bar or merch). So I hung to the side with one of the guys I was talking to (who had never been there and I should have known better).  The spot we had wasn’t bad, but I probably should have gone to the middle more.  Of course, this is annoying complaints since I was three people from the stage (and they recently played in front of 100,000 people).  I was more or less in front of Khn de Poitrine but I couldn’t see Klek de Poitrine (drums) without moving–good thing he has a massive helmet on.

The duo came out to the music of LCD Soundsystem’s North American Scum, tuned their gear and then held up their triangle hands to each other (for a comically long time) and then held them up to us–which everyone responded to, of course and within moments Khn was playing the thumping bass of Angor.  Khn clapped his hands along his hat to get people to clap, I guess (who knows what these aliens mean when they communicate). (more…)

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