Ted Leo and The Pharmacists played an explosive show at the Fleche d'Or in Paris last night. Unfortunately, the turnout was low - in fact, the band's original Paris show (at the Nouveau Casino) was cancelled due to poor ticket sales, and last night's slot on the Fleche's Monday night bill a less-than-ideal solution. Still and all, they were magnificent - and free!

They must surely be one of the hardest-rocking bands around. Sometimes they rock like At The Drive In: furnace blasts of incendiary chords and screaming rage. Other times they rock like Thin Lizzy: southern-fried blues licks with stomping basslines on the side. On 'A Bottle Of Buckie' (from their latest album 'Living With The Living') they even rock like The Pogues. In summary, they rock like The Rock and Rocky Balboa hurling rocks at the Rock of Cashel.

Almost as impressive as the rock is the hair. Check out drummer Chris Wilson's Ronnie Drew-like beard! And bassist Dave Lerner's poodle perm! We haven't seen hair like that since (Snip! - CLUAS Legal Department).

If you want to rock, go to see them. They'll be at Crawdaddy in Dublin this Wednesday night - it's one of CLUAS's Gigs Of The Fortnight. They're then playing the Roisin Dubh in Galway on Thursday and Lavery's Bunker in Belfast on Friday.

To whet your appetite, here's 'Sons Of Cain' live from San Francisco:

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Groan. The new single by French singer Amel Bent is called 'Nouveau Francais' and it deals with contemporary social issues - and it borrows a few bars of 'La Marseillaise' to make its point.

We're disappointed because Amel's first album, in 2005, was full of sassy, smart, self-assured Rn'B-flavoured pop - the best of which was the brilliant 'Ma Philosophie', one of our picks of the best French tunes of 2005.

All that summer, groups of girls sang it in streets, on the metro and (if my upstairs neighbour is typical) in their bedrooms. In short, it did more to project and cultivate a positive image of ethnic French women than any political speech or well-meaning social initiative. If that's not political, then I don't know what is.

Now, for her second album ('A 20 Ans', which means 'At Age 20'), Amel is presenting a more mature image - with cliched 'socially-aware' songs written by middle-aged men (and even one by the elderly Charles Aznavour) which are completely out of touch with the young French girls who idolise her.

And as French people are currently recovering from having voted four times in the last six weeks, a climate of political fatigue is probably the worst context for releasing an overtly political record.

What a pity. Anyway, here's that derriere-kicking 'Ma Philosophie', one of the best French singles of the last decade. But be careful -  you can't dance and think at the same time: 

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On Friday night, one note popsters Arctic Monkeys played the Pyramid Stage of Glastonbury and were so dull they had to bring on fellow scallywag Dizzee Rascal to liven things up, which he didn't really. On Saturday night, The Killers upped the pace in dullness thanks to a performance by Brandon Flowers who decided to impersonate Damien Rice doing Freddie Mercury at an Elvis convention. The fact that they sounded like they played the same song repeatedly for the entire length of their set didn't help matters. On Sunday night, The Who went all out by being as exciting to watch as a group of labourers mixing cement by the side of the road. Am I missing something ?

Putting aside the obvious humiliation of running around in the rain for three days on farmland awash with mud, why would you then subject yourself to some of the absolute worst music on earth? I don't understand this festival, just as I don't understand the appeal of that dull little prog rocker DJ John Peel who now has a stage named after him at the very same Glastonbury or the music of Mark E. Smith for that matter or why Elvis Costello, who can't sing a note to save his life, keeps on recording jazz records. Nor do I understand why 'Later with Jools Holland' keeps on be talked about in reverential, hushed tones as being at the forefront of music television when they limit soul legend Smokey Robinson to thirty seconds at the piano talking about his life and music then allow Damien Rice free reign to wail his tuneless dirges throughout the same programme, not to mention the fact that Tom Jones seems to have a cut on every 'Later With' DVD that the BBC puts out.

Dont' get me wrong, the BBC makes the best music programmes on Earth. 'Seven Ages of Rock' has been wonderful to watch, 'Jazz Britannia', 'Folk Britannia' and 'Folk Hibernia' were all excellent, their annual coverage of the Cambridge Folk Festival is second to none, 'Never Mind The Buzzcocks' continues to be a laugh and they pulled out all the stops for both LiveAid and Live8 but, man, Glastonbury, what a sad excuse for entertainment. To paraphrase the punky girl in 'Four Weddings and a Funeral', I think it's dull as sh*t.

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It was Jim Carroll over at the journal of record who tipped us off about Malajube, a five-piece from Quebec whose 2006 record 'Trompe l'Oeil' has recently been released in Europe.

As with a lot of innovative music these days, this album gleefully jumbles up genres  - there are bits of '70s AM rock, new wave, folk and even a touch of indie-pop. It sounds fresh, inventive and full of energy - the immediate (if a bit too obvious) comparison would be to 'Funeral' by Arcade Fire.

So, the new Arcade Fire with 2007's smash hit indie album? Probably not. You see, your local record dealer's just going to bury it in his 'world' music section because they sing in French.

But while singing in French will probably put off a lot of English-language punters, that shouldn't dissuade the French, right? Wrong. French-language music from Quebec is considered deeply uncool here in 'la Hexagone'- behind Celine Dion there's a horde of equally-bland balladeers (names like Mylene Farmer, Garou and Lara Fabian; apologies to any French readers who've just got sick all over their computers) who come to France to seek their fortune.

And French people generally ridicule the Quebecois for their accents, just as they do with the Belgians and Swiss for having the nerve to speak French in a Belgian or Swiss accent (and just like how the Irish accent was mocked in Britain until the 1990s). English-speaking Quebec acts like Arcade Fire or Rufus Wainwright don't meet this barrier (this Maginot Line, if you will) of linguistic credibility.

Malajube have already been and gone around Europe before anyone seemed to notice them - they played in Dublin earlier this month, and supported Arcade Fire here in Paris.

However, they'll be back for some European festivals this August - in Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and a French festival called Les Nuits Secretes (at Aulnoye-Aymeries, in the north-east near Lille and the Belgian border). No news yet of any Irish festival appearances - but in the meantime you can listen to the entire album on their MySpace page, and you can watch the video for the wonderful pop thrills of 'Montreal -40°C' below. Remember; in French the 't' is silent in 'Montreal'. Now that's not too scary to listen to, is it?

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We don't know much about this guy (right). He calls himself PacoVolume; he's French but he sings in English. We came upon him only because he supported Simple Kid in Paris last week - however, we spent much of his set waiting impatiently for the Cork boy to come on.

And then right at the end PacoVolume plays his ace: a marvellous song called 'Cookiemachine' which we've heard a couple of times on the radio without catching the singer's name. It has a Super Furry Animals sound to it, and the chorus is wonderful.

It's taken from PacoVolume's album 'Manhattan Baby', which came out at the tail end of 2006. Unfortunately, none of his other songs even come close to the brilliance of 'Cookiemachine', which is just waiting to be a hit! hit! hit!

No video for it yet - but you can listen to it on PacoVolume's MySpace site, along with other tracks of his. There's also an MP3 version of it available at the bottom of this post from music bloggers Milk Milk Lemonade.

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Lonely China Day was back in action last night at 2 Kollegas, the curiously named but cosy little bar in a park better known for its drive-in cinema in Beijing's northerly Chaoyang district. The band passed up on a tour of Israel in April because the band broke up. "They were pissed," says Matt Kagler, boss of Tag Team Records which signed the band in 2005. Two band members who unexpectedly quit the band in April are being replaced. The band has a new drummer.

The band played its music to an eye catching screen backdrop featuring graphics laid over footage of Beijing. The film was shot and edited by a young filmmaker and band fan who makes documentaries at Chinese Central TV (CCTV). The whole effect was reminiscent of a Primal Scream live experience, and Lonely China Day likes to fiddle plenty of electronic content into its guitar-driven tunes. Even though the film has been stripped down to squiggly primary colours the cranes and stop-start traffic jams (and terrible driving) of mini-vans make it obvious this is Beijing.

Lonely China Day has made its name for snazzy graphic design and artwork in its shows and album releases. Last night band handlers were selling t-shirts at the door, also designed by the band. "They're arty guys,"  Kagler explained over beers at 2 Kollegas. During the band's tour of USA this spring LCD made such a big impression on New York Times critic Jon Pareles that he has since written five articles on the band and its label, says Kagler. He plans on doing a lengthy feature on the group in August for the NYT's glossy weekend magazine. Good timing, considering the band is releasing its new album in the US in July.

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Ten years on the seminal film about Beijing’s counter cultural scene seems dated, but its star, Cui Jian, still deserve credit for sticking with his music when times were tough. Nearly no one showed up at the Cherry Lane recently for a showing of Beijing Bastards, the film made in 1993 by Zhang Yuan and only recently legalized in mainland China.

The film centres around the lives of a group of Beijing malcontents, zeroing in on 20-something Karzi, a moody malcontent who tries to get his pregnant girlfriend to give him another chance. A half-dozen other characters include Cui Jian, who plays himself and contributes a moody score. The story line also includes his band being shuffled around like ducks between rehearsal rooms: locals don’t like, or understand, the din.

Today’s Beijing is unrecogniseable in the film: no traffic jams, no foreign business people/slackers, no Starbucks.  The Cherry Lane screening was interrupted by several of the mobile phone tones ubiquitous on today’s streets. There’s a lot more wealth in China, and some more rock n roll, but most youths have given up protest songs for the urban dream of apartment and car, more achievable than ever in go-getting modern China.

The Cherry Lane is an old Peking Opera house used as a non-profit artnouse film house on the weekends. Beijing Bastards has never been shown in a mainstream cinema in China.

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COIS FHARRAIGE 2007 Ireland's First Surf & Music Festival
SEPTEMBER 7TH, 8TH, 9TH

A weekend of live music from the best of Irish and International acts
will be staged in a Kayham Tent, with a capacity of 4,500 each night,
over looking the Atlantic Coast in Kilkee Co. Clare.

Friday September 7th
Fun Lovin' Criminals, The Blizzards, Roisin Murphy, Majella Murphy

Sunday September 8th
Ocean Colour Scene, Republic of Loose, THE ENEMY, 28 Costumes

Sunday September 9th
Kila, Tom Baxter, Buffalo Souljah, Delerontos, THE WOMBATS, Amy MacDonald

Further acts to be announced.

A carnival of watersport activities will kick off across Kilkee bay
over the three day weekend and an official Surfing Event on the
breathtaking Doughmore beach in Doonbeg on Saturday the 8th in
association with the West Coast Surf Club.

Tickets for Cois Fharraige Surf Festival go on sale on Friday June 29th at 9am.
In person: From 99 Ticketmaster outlets Nationwide
24hr hotlines: Tel: ( ROI ) 0818 719 300 / 0818 719 330 ( NI ) 0870
243 4455 Buy online: www.ticketmaster.ie

Tickets for each individual day 29.50 euro
Early Bird Three day Festival Ticket 69.50 euro
( Available to purchase until August 18th 2007 only )

Three day Festival Ticket 84.50 euro
( Available to purchase from August 19th 2007 )

All tickets include booking fee

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There's no better way to mark today's French national music festival than with news of new music from France's greatest living pop star.

Manu Chao will release his new album 'La Radiolina' on 27 August. The first single taken off the album is 'Rainin' In Paradize', and you can watch the video below. Warning: it's fairly ordinary stuff -  a real disappointment compared to his electrifying back catalogue. And the video's terrible too. But if you like it, the track can be downloaded for free from Manu Chao's website.

No news yet of European tour dates or an Irish show (he's currently doing shows in North America) - hopefully Irish promoters will have learned by now just how huge an international star Manu Chao really is. In summer 2004 he was booked to play an Irish show at...Whelan's. The show eventually took place at... The Point, which he could have filled three times over, such was the demand for tickets, even with Metallica playing at the RDS arena on the same night.

Some astute Irish promoter will surely book him for a huge outdoor show, certain of the fact that every Spanish, Italian and French person in Ireland (thousands, we assure you - and that's not even including the hordes of summer students) will flock to see him.

Anyway, here's the video for 'Rainin' In Paradize':

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