The disappointing biopic of France's greatest ever pop star opens in Irish cinemas next week. 

Becoming a Jacques-al: Conor O'Brien, garlanded with Gallic rave reviews and performing free-range on the cobbled streets of Paris, as filmed by French website Le Hiboo. Watch the solo Villager playing 'Home' and 'Set The Tigers Free'. 

Old-school Detroit and New York hip-hop revisited by France's coolest DJ/electronica dude - brought to you by a Dublin record label! (We'll explain the title pun too.)

Brothers/cousins with shaggy hair and leather jackets - but that's where the Kings Of Leon similarities end. These four Paris lads make late-'60s retro rock with the occasional detour into '70s MOR pop... no, wait! Come back! They're quite good! Check out 'No Way' and 'Let's Burn Again'.

For the price of an Irish festival ticket, get yourself an all-in trip to eastern France for a sunny weekend of Jay-Z, LCD Soundsystem, The Specials, The XX, Massive Attack, The Hives, Broken Social Scene, Foals, Missy Elliot... and Charlotte Gainsbourg!

Forever and ever, Eamon: a new album from Melanie Valera, near-namesake of our nation's founding father. Would he have dug her intimate, folksy electro-pop? Of course - how could he have resisted a song as great as 'Like The Snare That's Gone'?

Hello goodbye: The coolest French female pop star ever, with her greatest song - 'Comment Te Dire Adieu'. It being brilliant '60s French pop, Serge Gainsbourg is involved.

Pick of the pops: an idiosyncratic and charming tune from a Tours singer who'll be playing promotional shows on the high-speed trains of France.

The appliance of science: Pink Noise Party, two Paris-based physicists who build cracking pop music and home-made keyboards, which they take to places like Balaclava and underwater. Just another ordinary day in the world of French electronica.

For only €99, an August weekend in Paris with Arcade Fire, Massive Attack, Roxy Music, LCD Soundsystem, Queens of The Stone Age, Jonsi, Underworld, Foals, Eels, Two Door Cinema Club, Kele Okereke and plenty more.

Hamlet's soliloquy: an angsty acoustic set from Conor O'Brien shows up the weakness of his songs.

Flèche and bludgeon: the Belfast rockers flatten the famous Seine-side venue with a riotous mix of energy, wit and ginormous riffs. Yes!

Even while running 26 miles, a CLUAS Foreign Correspondent is never off duty. This year's Paris Marathon was complemented by cracking tunes along the route - including a brilliant '90s hit from ethnic Kerrywoman Dusty Springfield.

Moi aussi: A new version of a classic duet, with daughter taking the place of mother. Will the 2010 version of 'Je T'Aime (Moi Non Plus) cause as much scandal as the original?

Some lovely experimental alt-folk from eastern France, courtesy of a prolific yet obscure duo. Go on, make them famous!

Les Vieilles Charrues announces the first names of this July's line-up by the Atlantic coast. Also appearing are Vitalic, Etienne de Crécy - and '60s French icon Jacques Dutronc.

The Waterford singer-songer is taking his alt-folk-rock around France this month. Relax, kick off your shoes and watch him singing barefoot at a famous Paris church.

Five years in the French capital, one weekend in Britain's - enough impressions for a quick pop-based comparison of the two. With music from Blur.

The London-based French couple return with a new album of dark, sexy electro-rock called 'Time For The Devil'. However, the title track sounds a bit lifeless.

In which your indie-kid blogger goes to see extravagant ballet and hear wonderful music at the famous Paris concert house. To celebrate this, let's watch the hilariously bad video for a song even worse than our title pun.

The fantastic Saint Malo summer festival has a February sibling - The XX, Local Natives, Beach House, Clues and Clara Clara feature in a smashing line-up this weekend.

Sad and frozen after our rugby defeat in glacial Paris on Saturday? Here's something that'll warm your heart - some praise from an excellent French music magazine for two Irish acts.

Instant Carmen: Some Lennon-esque piano-pop (with a hint of Elvis Costello) in French from a young Nîmes singer-songer and namesake of a famous classical composer. Plus: plenty of table-quiz trivia about denim and jeans!

The acclaimed film director duets with his wife, French actress Emmanuelle Seigner, on her new album. The song, "Qui Etes Vous?", is perhaps the last thing a man accused of sexual misdemeanour should be singing - lyrics where a young woman seems to fend off the advances of a stranger, played by Polanski.

The Versailles foursome continue their success in the US by picking up a prestigious gong - and the attention of millions of TV viewers.