Writing recently about the competition to find Ireland’s Greatest Living Musician gave me the perfect opportunity to delve into my record collection to remind myself of some of the contenders. In the process of completing this task I was taken aback by the sheer volume of music I possessed belonging to musicians now headlining the great gig in the sky. A quick check on my mp3 player showed that of the 100 most frequently played songs, 58 of them were by musicians who have already shuffled off their mortal coil.

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Back in the days when this blog was a column typed arthritically on a steam-powered abacus, we featured 'Paris Calling', a 2006 compilation of the French capital's most exciting new English-language guitar bands.

Pick of the bunch were Plastiscines, four easy-on-the-eye French girls who make equally attractive punk-pop in the tradition of The B-52s, The Ramones and early Jam singles. 'Shake (Twist Around The Fire)', one of their two tracks on the compilation, was an especially catchy song that made it into our end-of-year list of the best French music of 2006.

We had high hopes for their first album, which has just been released under the very functional title of 'LP1' - and it hasn't let us down. It's 26 thrilling minutes of punk energy, pop melody and Parisian attitude. Around half the tracks are in English, so it's likely that the album will be released in Britain, Ireland and North America - especially as the girls recently played in London (with Pravda, our other favourite French band of the moment) and New York. No news of any Irish dates yet.

Plastiscines' domestic fortunes have been mixed, however. Despite positive reviews and healthy sales, the record hasn't achieved the sort of chartbusting success anticipated by the huge advertising campaign that preceded its release (although the album fully justifies all the hype). In fact, most of the band's media exposure has been in the fashion glossies and teen bibles - photoshoots and modelling, rather than music discussion. As a result, their credibility has taken a battering.

Their music press appearances have raised hackles among the '4-Real' old punk brigade who can't take female acts seriously and point to the girls' well-to-do upbringing in the bourgeois suburbs west of Paris. However, they are veritable peasants compared to the New York punk wannabes who formed while in a Swiss finishing school, or to the British diplomat's son who followed up his private-school education by writing and singing punk anthems like 'London Calling' and 'White Riot'.

Embodying this blog's mantra of 'catchy tunes by glamorous people', here's Plastiscines performing 'Shake (Twist Around The Fire)' at a special live showcase at the Trabendo in Paris:

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Earlier this week, the Guardian asked a number of credible musos du jour (Mark Ronson,  Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand, Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips et al) to talk about a "classic" album that failed to light their fire. The article here delivers a masterclass in Sacred Cow slaying. Everything from Nevermind to Pet Sounds to The Stone Roses gets it in the neck.

Whilst I disagree wholeheartedly with Alex Kapranos slagging off Marquee Moon (how could he?!), I must admit that I found myself nodding vigorously to myself with descriptions of the Arcade Fire's  Neon Bible ("..an agglomeration of mannerisms, cliches and devices...") and Is This It (..the Strokes are the new Duran Duran; the new decadence for the new millennium...).

Of course, it got my thinking. Time to invite my fellow CLUASers to slay some sacred cows of their own. To start with, I'd like to nominate the two albums that adorn the top of the CLUAS Best Irish albums - Van the Man's Astral Weeks, and Loveless by that famous "Irish" beat combo, My Bloody Valentine. The directionless dirge that is Astral Weeks is knocked into a tin hat by  the delightful Moondance, whilst Loveless sounds like some recorded a bad album for their iPOD underwater. Now I know that the guitar layers and swoony indecipherable vocals are supposed to transport me to a nether world.... but there ARE NO TUNES!

Patti Smith, Horses. Neigh I say. Poetry recited over a sloppy bar band?

There isn't a single Dylan album that I can listen to the whole way through. Now call me a philistine (and I know some of you already think I am) but there are just too many words. Blonde on Blonde? I find myself skipping tracks. Visions of Johanna's genius is drained by is length.

Why are the Clash worshipped?! So many of their songs sound under-rehearsed and rehashed. And, the worst crime of all, they inspired the truly awful Libertines. Surely the most over-rated band of recent times, Up The Bracket is off-key, gravelly and ridiculously derivative.

 And so, my friends, I ask you this. What is the most over-rated album of all time? Do you agree with my choices or would you prefer to add some new and familiar names to the list? OK Computer anyone?

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An unforgivable omission from Jules' overview of music inspired by Joyce's masterpiece:

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Now that he's getting older and spending his summers in his south of France villa, Bono seems to have grown out his past habit of abusing elderly Frenchmen.

He is to contribute a song to the new album by Johnny Hallyday, France's veteran rock n'roll icon. The track is called 'I Am The Blues'.

It is not known whether the song will be in English or French, two languages which neither singer is believed to have ever really mastered.

64-year-old Hallyday is currently recording the album in Los Angeles, with a provisional release date set for October. He recently became a tax exile in Switzerland after failing to secure Belgian citizenship, which would have allowed him to avoid France's high rate of tax.

Bono and U2 are currently in Morocco, working on writing new songs with long-time production collaborators Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno.

Update: It's true! It lives! Check out 'I Am The Blues' by Johnny Hallyday, written by Bono and another noteworthy Irish frontman...

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Heard with increasing frequency on Chinese radio, a soft-voiced female singer doing a version of the song written by Jimmy McCarthy and popularised by Christy Moore. She's kept the Ride On, see you" part, but the rest is sung in Mandarin. There's even some people on the bus humming it. Expect it to be heard accross the nation this summer on Chinese ringtones.

More details of the singer and the translation later.

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Cork's Simple Kid, maker of 'SK2', CLUAS's top Irish album of 2006, is playing two Paris shows over the next week.

First, on 15 June he's appearing with The Servant and Grand National at a venue called Showcase under the Pont Alexandre III (the bridge with the gold eagles that goes between Invalides and the Champs-Elysées, Paris fans).

He'll also be at the Maroquinerie next Thursday, 21 June - a free concert as part of the Fête de la Musique, France's national music festival. Also playing on the night will be Good Books, Fields and Paco Volume.

We will definitely be there. Report to follow

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Saint Malo is a quaint old town on the northern French coast. It has kept its original walled city, and it is a favourite destination for French holiday-makers - in particular, Parisian indie kids. Every summer Saint Malo hosts La Route Du Rock, France's hippest music festival.

This year's edition takes place from 16 to 18 August, which is Wednesday to Friday. The strangely non-weekend dates owes a lot to the fact that 15 August is a public holiday in France, so in true Gallic tradition most people will take the entire week off.

As every year, the line-up is achingly indie-cool: it includes The National, Justice, Elvis Perkins, Herman Dune, CSS, Peter Bjorn and John, LCD Soundsystem and The Besnard Lakes.

The strange (and for some die-hard Saint-Malo-goers, controversial) choice as chief headliner is a genuine marquee name - the reformed Smashing Pumpkins, a rare instance of La Route Du Rock hosting (1) a metal band and (2) a megastar act.

Tickets cost an unwhopping €63.50 (yes, sixty-three euros fifty) and are available online at www.fnacspectacles.com.

At the time of posting, the (incomplete) line-up for La Route Du Rock 2007 is:
          

Wednesday 16 August: Justice, The Go! Team, The National , Herman Düne, Elvis Perkins, Robert Gomez, Thee, Stranded Horse
 
Thursday 17 August: The Smashing Pumpkins, CSS, Peter Bjorn & John, New Young Pony Club, The Besnard Lakes, Fujiya & Miyagi

Friday 18 August: Sonic Youth (Daydream Nation), LCD Soundsystem, Voxtrot, 120 Days, Final Fantasy

Check www.laroutedurock.com for updates on new additions to the bill.

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French DJ duo Justice release their first album today (11 June). Its title is † - that is, the symbol of a crucifix.

Their sound is just as hard to name - it's the most evil, intricate, banging, catchy, queasy, funky, joyous dance music we've heard in ages. It's a quantum leap forward from 'Homework' by Daft Punk, the record a decade ago which sent French dance music stratospheric .

Xavier de Rosnay and Gaspar Auge are the pair of Parisians behind Justice.  They first came to attention with a remix of Simian's 'Never Be Alone', which they followed with 2005's amazing 'Waters Of Nazareth', a track which causes stomach upsets if you go too close to the speakers.

You can check out Justice when they appear at Oxegen this summer. Be warned - they DJ with two stacks of Marshall amps, so all you PYTs had better mind your eardrums.

Here's the clever 'T-shirt' video for their current single 'D.A.N.C.E.'

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Carlsberg don't do surf music but if they did; Here are three versions of that classic surf pop song, "Surfin' Bird".

Firstly, The Ramones in 1978

Secondly, the German band der fall Böse perform it in the back of their VW bus.

Finally, Kermit the Frog gives it a lash.

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