Well, let's be generous here - the new single by the smug Paris dancefloor fella is fine stuff. But do you prefer this 'C'est La Vie' to the B*Witched one?

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Norman beats: Just back from Saint Lô in Normandy, where we gained a French family and had a memorable weekend. We also found a tune from a local band, Da Brasilians - watch them play their song 'Ocean'.

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Acts from across France's music spectrum will be in Dublin for Let's French, a series of concerts that coincides with Fête de la Musique. Here's another video by the poptastic Plastiscines - and some French chat-up lines for any brave Irishmen intent on charming them. Prends garde à toi!

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Dutch Gold: your Irish blogger celebrated with the orange order in watching last night’s sensational France-Netherlands match. We were joined in spirit by a Belgian singing about the port of Amsterdam; here’s Jacques Brel.

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Blissed-out Americana, western shuffles, Beatles-y melodies - 'Cuchillo', the third album by French singer Barth, is lovely. Watch him drive through the States in the video for 'La Machoire Americaine'.

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Euro 2008 starts today. To celebrate the upcoming month of football, let's remind ourselves of the greatest footie song ever. Then we'll proceed with caution to one of the most awful, a 1991 duet between Chris Waddle and Basile Boli.

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Richie Egan hawks his brilliant new album at our favourite French-capital venue. Watch Jape playing their latest single 'I Was A Man' in a posh Dublin drawing room.

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A disappointing result for Sebastien Tellier in the pan-continental MOR-fest last night.

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Femmes fatales: Some of this blog's favourite French ladies will join forces in Ireland next month. Parisian she-rockers Plastiscines play the Andrew's Lane Theatre on 27 June, with support from Dublin-based French singer Lauren Guillery.

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Verse, chorus, verse: The acclaimed Irish poet, appearing in Paris this week, plays guitar in a hard-working rock group. And he co-wrote a song with Warren Zevon which has been covered by The Boss. Listen to Bruce's version of 'My Ride's Here' (Zevon/Muldoon).

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Meet the hyper-prolific French electro-pop dude who's just released his SEVENTEENTH album in 14 years. With all that practice, no wonder 'Don Lee Doo' is great. And he's just as busy making MySpace pages. And videos too!

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Steve and Joe and the other fellas, playing in the French capital on 23 May. Plus, this blog's secret network of spies and informers revealed! This goes all the way to the very top. Trust no one!

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Like clockwork: The electro pair are causing controversy with the video for 'Stress' - seven minutes of urban violence.

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The Don Quixote of alt-rock played in Paris last night - next stop Ireland, for shows in Dublin, Belfast and Galway this weekend. Let's find out a little more about him (and a bit too much about your blogger).

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The Israeli-born, Dutch-raised, Paris-matured, New York-dwelling singer will be at Crawdaddy on 21 June: the same date as France's national music day. Her albums are quiet, but she can rock out live, as proved by her performance of 'Lay Your Head Down' at a recent French awards show.

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...and we're not digging it. The greatly-anticipated new album from the French vocaliser is a disappointment: too much self-consciousness, not enough songwriting, and some graceless slagging of other singers. What a pity.

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They're the Dublin folk-rockers who've been touring around France this last month as support to Kill The Young, that's who! They'll be back in Dublin very soon for a few shows: until then you can watch them playing on a balcony above Dame Street.

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Prix de lark: Yet another big French festival on the first weekend of July - this time, at a famous old racetrack in Paris. Visiting acts include Vampire Weekend, The Gossip and (appropriately) Foals, while the local favourites include Cocoon, Rhesus, Vitalic, Yael Naim, Laurent Garnier and Yelle.

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In our new series, we show you the best of Paris via music videos made here. First, the most famous Paris landmark of all, in the video for Duran Duran's 'A View To A Kill'.

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Bell IV: The eastern French city of Belfort, historically a battle-ground, is today home to one of the country's biggest music festivals. The likes of CSS, dEUS, Vampire Weekend, The Gossip and loads more will be there on 4-6 July. French acts on the bill include Camille, Sebastien Tellier and prochaine-grande-chose The Dø: watch the video for 'On My Shoulders'.

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In the first of our 2008 holiday brochure series, a three-day festival right in the centre of a small northern French town. Check out the impressive first night: Chemical Brothers, Underworld, Justice and Boys Noize! Also appearing: Radiohead, Mika, The Wombats and Sigur Ros - "and more"!

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Another CLUAS-approved album by the Riviera shoegazer, who's be in Dublin later this month. At the Andrew's Lane Theatre! Next thing, they'll be blowing up the Pillar.

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France's greatest ever pop star would have been 80 today. We look back on the life of Serge Gainsbourg - and find a topical song for today's Irish political revelation.

The U-Bends: You can have their album online for free. Spend a penny in France this summer, though, and you'll be helping Radiohead stage a unique eco-friendly concert powered by converted biomass - in other words, chemically-treated sewage. Mmmmm.

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The bells! The bells! Our fellow 'Soundings'-lovers will be supporting Nada Surf on their upcoming European tour, starting with three April concerts in France.

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