The big music news in France this week has been the release via Internet of two new songs by '90s rockers Noir Désir (below right).

This makes the headlines because it's the band's first release since the imprisonment and subsequent release of lead singer Bertrand Cantat. Worshipped as the spokesman for a generation of French rock fans, Cantat was convicted of beating to death his girlfriend, actress Marie Trintignant, in Vilnius in 2003.

The case sparked huge emotions at the time, which were aroused again last year when Cantat, repatriated to a French prison after starting his sentence in Lithuania, was granted a conditional early release on good behaviour after serving four years of an eight-year term.

Cantat's short stay behind bars was criticised by support groups for those who suffer conjugal violence. His fans, for their part, were torn between devotion to their idol and revulsion for his crime.

The two new tracks maintain Noir Désir's outspoken political posture. One, 'Le Temps De Cerises' is a cover of a revolutionary song from 1871, the era of the left-wing Paris commune. The other, 'Gagnants/Perdants' ("Winners/Losers"), is (according a press release) "a response to the current political and human climate". The lyrics refer directly to 'Nicolas' (Sarkozy, one must presume); Cantat warns him that "we will sleep with one eye open" to keep a watch on him.

A condition of Cantat's early release is that he cannot comment publicly on his crime, trial (left) or punishment until the original 8-year term has elapsed. This precludes him from writing songs about the affair until 2011 at the earliest.

As well as being overtly political, both new tracks continue the Noir Désir penchant for dull, self-satisfied sludge-rock. Thus warned, you can listen to them on the band's new website.

Media reaction to and coverage of the new tracks, the band's first release since their album 'Des Visages Des Figures' came out on 11 September 2001, has been curious. Only the vaguest references have been made to the reasons for Cantat's absence. Callers to music radio shows on indie stations like Le Mouv' have been almost entirely supportive and surprisingly free of the strong anti-Cantat sentiment that's also widespread in France. 

Given Cantat's notoriety, it's unlikely that the band will play live anytime soon. There are no plans for a new Noir Désir album at the time of writing.

Here's what looks like a home-made video for 'Gagnants/Perdants': 

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A review of the album 'I Never Thought This Day Would Come' by Duke Special

Review Snapshot: While never consistently matching the dizzy heights of previous album 'Songs From The Deep Forest', Peter Wilson still makes a convincing tilt at the title of Ireland's Best Songwriter. A few Duke-Special-by-numbers numbers aside, mostly collaborations, his new album contains more of the same catchy, heartfelt piano-pop with which he's now synonymous. A consolidation, then.

The Cluas Verdict? 7 out of 10

Full Review:

Not to burden the new Duke Special album with impossible expectations or anything, but Peter Wilson’s previous long-player, ‘Songs From The Deep Forest’, was simply astounding. Bursting with baroque ambition, soaring joy, searing heartache, witty poetry, warm sincerity and catchy tunes, it’ll soon be permanently camped on the upper slopes of Mount Best Irish Album Ever. (If not, it’ll be because of the drippy single mix of ‘Freewheel’, for which someone should be fired.)

So, the follow-up, then.

Well, while not topping or matching its illustrious predecessor, ‘I Never Thought This Day Would Come’ is still a very good album. With it, Wilson continues a fine strand of work and consolidates his reputation as a Champions League-level pop songwriter.

It falls short of greatness because it can’t keep up the consistent emotional, lyrical and musical density of ‘Songs From The Deep Forest’. Simpering second track ‘Sweet Sweet Kisses’ shares a melody with ‘She’ll Be Comin’ Round The Mountain’ and is just as repetitive and flimsy. ‘Flesh And Blood Dance’ feels like a photocopy of ‘Portrait’ off the previous album. And if ever a song sounds like hard work just from its title, then it’s ‘These Proverbs We Made In The Winter Must End’. A track co-written with, of all people, Bernard Butler, that title is the catchiest bit. Exactly.

(Butler, of course, famously walked out on Suede’s ‘Dog Man Star’, another baroque pop masterpiece whose frosty darkness complements Wilson’s sunnier disposition.)

But there’s plenty to be positive about on this album. Wilson, like Paul McCartney, seems genetically designed to write (or co-write, as is more often the case on this album) tunes that’ll be whistled by postmen and bus drivers the world over. It’s surely no accident that, like all radio-friendly pop songwriters, he usually makes the title the lyrical hook of his songs.

And though we complained above that this album can’t match the power of its predecessor, there are still plenty of memorable moments. It’s hard to dislike the bruised optimism of opening track ‘Mockingbird Wish Me Luck’ and the subversive cynicism of the title song (whose punchline is given away by its own subtitle).

Best of all are two tearjerkers that rate among Wilson’s finest songs. It’s hard to convey the emotional wallop of Wilson singing simple lines like the title lyrics of ‘If I Don’t Feel It’, ‘Why Does Anybody Love?’ and ‘Nothing Comes Easy’. If you listen to them on the bus to work tomorrow morning, good luck convincing fellow passengers that you’ve just been chopping onions. Like poor old Elliott Smith, Wilson has the knack of marrying bleak sentiment with gorgeous melody. And his voice, that vivid Belfast accent, is still his ace: the implicit touch of sincerity and individuality that has us trusting the emotions he evokes.

If we’ve gone on too much about Wilson’s previous album, that’s because the man has set a dizzyingly high standard and we want him to maintain it on this new record. He doesn’t always succeed, but now we know that a good Duke Special album is better than most people’s best. Go on, son – write that next record all by yourself and make it blow our minds.

Aidan Curran

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You probably saw that recent post on the CLUAS discussion board: a busker telling the story of how he was invited onstage by Glen Hansard at a recent Swell Season show in Boston. (Damn the cynicism: it was a bloody decent thing for Glen to do.)

Anyway, Glen and Marketa Irglova (and Oscar too, perhaps) are in Paris this week for a gig at La Maroquinerie on 5 November. Will the steep hill up to the venue be lined with buskers pitching themselves at the Oscar winners? Maybe, although there aren't many street buskers in Paris. Most musical begging is done underground, in metro passages or even on the trains themselves.

(Your blogger was passing through the metro stations at Saint Michel last Friday evening when we heard the dreaded 'Hallelujah' being busked. Four years in Paris, and it was the first time we'd had to endure it. And there was a crowd around the guy listening to him murder it! It reminded us why we choose to live far, far away from Grafton Street.)  

Notwithstanding all that, you probably have come across the Take Away Shows - a series of live acoustic sessions with the hippest indie acts, usually impromptu and on the streets of Paris. It's probably a no-brainer that there'll be a Glen n' Marketa special filmed this week.

We'll bring you any Swell Season session as soon as we can 'borrow' it from the Take Away Show. In the meantime, here's the most recent edition, featuring Bloc Party and an acoustic version of 'This Modern Love'. Paris-watchers: they're coming out of a rock bar called the Truskel, the traditional location for after-show parties by visiting indie bands, and they end up playing in front of the Bourse:

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While sulking recently about how our favourite Paris live venue had become all trendy and uptight, we mentioned that indie rock is currently fashionable in Paris. One proof of this is the amount of promotion going into French guitar bands; we don't remember ever hearing so many radio promos for home-grown bands before.

One band currently doing well out of this is Quidam (pronounced 'kee-dam'). The Clermont-Ferrand trio (right) had released their debut album, 'En Eaux Profondes' ("in deep waters") earlier this year and it was a modest success.

Now, though, they're getting loads of airplay for a single off this album. 'Nos Souvenirs' ("our memories") is hardly revolutionary or daring - but it's a catchy little thing, with its slinky rhythm guitar riff and (that rare thing in French rock) a chorus hook! Round-the-clock radio exposure means we can't get it out of our heads, which is a good thing.

The song has been doing the rounds since 2005, when Les Inrockuptibles featured it on their annual CQFD compilation of new French tunes. But it's only now that there's a market for guitar bands making radio-friendly pop. Better late than never, though.

The rest of their album is decent enough, though there's nothing else as good as 'Nos Souvenirs'. Still, one good song is one more than most bands have.  

You can find out more about Quidam on their MySpace page. (Their name is a Latin word for a person who can't be identified.) Here's the video for 'Nos Souvenirs':

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Today, 1 November, is All Saints' Day and a public holiday in France. Traditionally, families visit the graves of their departed loved ones.

The graveyards of Paris receive visitors all year round, of course, because of the famous names on the tombstones. Fans of Serge Gainsbourg, Samuel Beckett, Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir go to the cemetery at Montparnasse. Across the city, in Montmartre, a steady stream of cinephiles pay homage to François Truffaut. 

The most famous graveyard in Paris, and perhaps the world, is the Cimetière du Père Lachaise at the eastern edge of the city. Established by Napoleon in 1804, it's named after a 17th century Jesuit clergyman whose house once stood where today there's the cemetery chapel. 

Far from being morbid, a stroll through Père Lachaise is quite wonderful. Its cobbled paths, shady trees and 19th century tombs (right) give an overpowering sense of the romantic and gothic. Parts of it are especially romantic. Letters and pledges are still left at the crypt of legendary tragic lovers Abelard and Heloise. 

Just as passionate are the visitors to the grave of murdered 18th century journalist Victor Noir, whose monument is a statue of him which features a prominent bulge in the trouser area. Reputed to have aphrodisiac qualities, this bulge is rubbed and kissed by amorous visitors.

Despite all this activity, there are plenty of quiet areas in this huge graveyard for those seeking to escape the hubbub of tourists. And those tourists are here for the star names with which Père Lachaise trumps all its rivals.

Oscar Wilde is buried here, under a large art deco angel. (The custom is to kiss the momument, so it's always covered in lipstick.) Other famous writers here include Marcel Proust, Molière, Gertrude Stein (with her partner Alice B. Toklas), Richard Wright, Balzac, Apollinaire and Paul Eluard.

Paris being a traditional haven for painters, Père Lachaise has its artistic community too: Modigliani, Géricault and Delacroix, Pissaro and Seurat. And among the actors and performers here you'll find the resting place of Marcel Marceau. 

But apart from the perenially popular Wilde, the latter-day fame of Père Lachaise comes from the musicians buried here. Strangely, a lot of the famous musical remains here are incomplete. Chopin, who has a particularly ornate tomb, is without his heart, which is in a church in Warsaw. (We once saw a violinist play beside Chopin's tomb, which was rather beautiful.) The ashes of Maria Callas were once housed here before being stolen and eventually cast into the Aegean sea. And Rossini's crypt is empty, his remains having been returned to Florence in Italy.

Still lying undisturbed and in one piece - well, what's left of them - are Bizet and Stephane Grappelli.

But two music stars outshine all other residents in Père Lachaise. Edith Piaf's family plot has traditionally been a favourite for French visitors - but with the success of the recent biopic there are more international tourists dropping by. Her grave is a simple slab of black marble, calling to mind her humble beginnings and enduring closeness to the ordinary French public. 

And then there's the man who introduced the name of Père Lachaise to rock fans: Jim Morrison. While the vast numbers of excited teenagers have waned in recent years, there's still a steady stream of visitors looking for his hard-to-find tomb (left). The Greek inscription can be translated as 'True to his own spirit' or 'According to his own destiny'.

Such is the hassle his presence causes that the permanently exasperated security guards in Père Lachaise will light up with joy if you ask for directions to a non-Jim tomb. One friend of ours asked the way to Proust's grave and almost got adopted.

The days of smoking on Jim's plot and scrawling on his tombstone are long gone; today Morrison's grave is heavily protected. As well as a permanent guard or two, a crash barrier ensures that no one can physically touch the tomb. There are also two hidden security cameras: one in a tree and another in a lamp-post. 

Two metro lines run out to La Cimetière du Père Lachaise. Lines 2 and 3 both stop at a station called Père Lachaise which is near the main entrance. However, we recommend that you take line 3 and get off at Gambetta. You'll then go in the back entrance, which is closer to Wilde and Piaf - and the rest of your walk will be downhill through the cemetery past Morrison's tomb to the main entrance and Père Lachaise metro station.

An appropriate French song at this moment would be M83 and 'Graveyard Girl':

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Far be it from us in Paris to tell you in Ireland what you should be doing next weekend, but we see that the DEAF electronic music festival will be on in Dublin on 23-26 October. No doubt our colleague Key Notes will be keeping an eye on this and reporting on the best of the action, dispatching his crack team of gig reviewers out into the electronic city like futuristic cyborgs of the night.

Keeping strictly to our remit lest the CLUAS trade union rep objects, we'll just highlight two French acts who'll be appearing at DEAF.

Starting at the finish, Laurent Garnier is one of the featured acts at the DEAF closing party that takes place at the Village, Whelans and Whelans Upstairs simultaneously on Sunday 26 October. You've no work the next day, so you can stay out late with a clear conscience.

Earlier in the festival, on Friday 23 October at Vicar Street, there's the return of M83 (left). You'll recall that Anthony Gonzales and co. played at the ALT back in April.

M83's album 'Saturdays = Youth' is one of the best French albums of this year, which is probably damning it with faint praise given that it hasn't been a great year for French albums. But it's good stuff nonetheless - dreamy synth-fuelled shoegazing that's perfect for late night listening. We're not sure how well that'll come across live; no doubt you'll let us know.

The standout track on 'Saturdays = Youth' is the gorgeous 'Kim And Jessie'. Between this single and the album as a whole, M83 is bound to feature strongly in our Best French Music of 2008 poll. (The Christmas lights are already going up outside the Paris department stores, which has got us thinking of our end-of-year list. Be sure to drop us a line to tell us your favourites of the year in pop française.)

Here's the video for 'Kim And Jessie', which features what we presume is called synchronised ballroom rollerskating. And if that isn't an Olympic event by now, downhill ballroom rollerskate road racing (2 mins 30 secs) certainly deserves to be:

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You might remember our recent night out at the Parc des Princes, when we defied the PSG ultras and took the home terrace with a small band of Grenoble fans. (If not, then we'll be reminding everyone of this ad infinitum.)

For a modest team of journeymen pros, Grenoble are doing quite well this season. Turning to music (because we've been told there's 'too much football' on this blog), there's a Grenoble pair turning out some Champions League-quality choons at the moment.

Apple Jelly (right) are Benn and Viktor. Live, they include a sound engineer called Deaf and a lighting technician called Blindy. You'll have guessed that we're not featuring Apple Jelly for their Wildean wit, then.

The twosome have just released an album called 'Nanana Club'. The record is fairly decent '80s-flavoured electro-pop all the way through, but the standout track is a funky thing called 'Radio'.

Its disco bassline and four-on-the-floor beat owe a little to Boney M's 'Daddy Cool'; surprisingly, this is a good thing. There's a catchy chorus too. Ah go on, you'll like it.

The video (below) for 'Radio' was made by Hugo Barbier as an entry to a competition. It features some people making faces and shapes, but isn't half as irritating as that suggests.

Benn and Viktor aren't really putting their back into promoting Apple Jelly, we feel. Their upcoming shows are all near where they live, in the foothills of the Alps. Only three tracks on their MySpace page too. That said, one of them is the smashing 'Radio'; here's the video: 

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The shortlist of ten albums has just been revealed for the 2008 Prix Constantin, France's equivalent of the Mercury and Choice prizes. The prize will be awarded at a concert/ceremony in Paris on 17 November.

As we explained in our coverage of the 2006 and 2007 editions, the Prix Constantin differs slightly from its international counterparts. The award is meant to recognise a 'breakthrough' act, and so any singer or band who has ever attained gold record status in France (sales of 75,000 units) is ineligible. Also, the nominated act doesn't need to be French - their record just has to have been made in France and released on a French label. (This is an industry prize, after all.)

This year's shortlist doesn't feature any R n'B, rap, pop or electronica, even though these are by far the most popular genres in French music. But the Prix Constantin is quite conservative. Even last year, when iconoclastic rai-rocker Rachid Taha chaired the judging panel, the winner was the insipid balladry of Daphné.

So, ten runners go to post. Notable non-runners include Camille, Sebastien Tellier and The Teenagers. Who do we fancy? Who can we write off? And who may be the dark horse? Let's inspect the field.

[Two important tips for the wary punter: (1) the Prix Constantin tends to favour solo artists, and (2) despite there being many English-language nominees in the past, no English-language act has ever won.]

One nominee, familiar to our regular readers, jumps out at us immediately. Cocoon, the boy-girl acoustic duo from Clermont-Ferrand, have deservedly made the shortlist. Their charming debut album is called 'My Friends All Died In A Plane Crash' and it's released on Sober & Gentle Records - how could it not be great? We can't hide our love for this album, which means we've put the hex on it. And they're not a solo act and they sing in English. Sadly, we don't see it winning.

You should also know a bit about Yael Naim by now, either through her happy-clappy ethno-pop in general or her song 'New Soul' from a recent computer advertisement. And we've also featured The Dø before - their single 'On My Shoulders' was a huge airplay hit in France this year (also used in a commercial ,for stationery) and their album 'A Mouthful' is quite good. Of those two, Naim would be a smarter bet for the win. Both acts sing in English, though.

A slightly surprising nomination is the American-sounding alt-trad-country of Moriarty - but with one French member and on a French label, they are eligible for consideration. Their version of Depeche Mode's 'Enjoy The Silence' has gained them some attention here, but it's hardly enough to see them win the prize. Again, an English-language act, so punters beware.

If English is a disadvantage, what about English and Yoruba? Those are the chosen languages of acoustic soul singer Asa (pronounced 'asha'), born in Paris but raised in Lagos. As with Naim, her slightly drippy ethno-pop has been relatively successful with the bobos of Paris, but her music's probably not traditionally-French-sounding enough for her to win the Prix Constantin. A long-odds shot.

We now come to the business end of the shortlist; the safe, French-sounding acts who don't scare the horses. From the following five, our winner will most likely come.

We hope it's not Julien Doré, the talent show winner who irritated us with his "ironic" rock version of the fantastic 'Moi Lolita' by Alizée. The singles from his debut album, 'Ersatz', are just as awful. Neither are we keen on the tuneless indie droning of Joseph D'Anvers, but he sounds a lot like 2003 winning group Mickey 3D, the only band so far to win the prize. Barbara Carlotti and Arman Méliès both make harmless chanson française that could quite likely win.

But, having studied past form, we reckon the best value for punters is Thomas Dutronc (left). If that surname sounds familiar to Francophiles, it's because Thomas is the son of iconic singer-turned-actor Jacques Dutronc (namechecked on the original version of Cornershop's 'Brimful of Asha') and the wonderful Françoise Hardy, France's ice-cool '60s pop princess.

Young Dutronc looks like his father and sings energetic acoustic songs in the familiar French style. His album, 'Comme Un Manouche Sans Guitare' ('Like A Gypsy Without A Guitar'), and wry single 'J'Aime Plus Paris' ('I Don't Like Paris Anymore') have won him as much attention as his parentage.

So, we say that Thomas Dutronc is the short-odds favourite for the 2008 Prix Constantin, and we wouldn't mind too much if he got the award. But in our hearts we want Cocoon to win. Here's the video for their gorgeous 'On My Way'. Prix Constantin judges: don't break that cartoon panda's heart!

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Back in the 1980s, many French homes had an Internet-style device called Minitel (right). It worked a lot like the web does now, except that instead of blogging about Mylène Farmer and Les Rita Mitsouko, Jacques le Frenchman could only use it for boring old stuff like shopping and train timetables.

Basically, it seems to have been teletext down a phone line. That said, a blogger who grew up in two-channel land without teletext can hardly sneer at the gadgetry of others. (The CLUAS gaffer is a better man for explaining techie stuff.)

Anyway, as happens, French kids of that era have grown up and become ferociously nostalgic for this kind of stuff. So here are Minitel Rose (below left), three lads from Nantes who've named themselves after the aforementioned contraption and make very '80s-sounding electro-pop. 

(At this point we can also make all the usual references to le french touch and Daft Punk.)

As if to explain their band name, Minitel Rose's album is called 'The French Machine'. The artwork is a mix of metal perviness and retro-futuristic kitsch, which we find très Paris-nightclub.

The music's quite good. This trio have close links with another French threesome, The Teenagers, who have mixed their track 'Elevator'. Such is the closeness of the two groups that Minitel Rose have covered The Teenagers' track 'Feeling Better' which is simply about loving The Teenagers. (Or perhaps we're missing a joke somewhere.) 

Could you love Minitel Rose enough to sing a song about them? Have a listen to tracks on their MySpace page and find out. Here's the video for "Magic Powder":

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