Paris ROCK CITY

Paris is world-renowned for its killer fashion and

ample attitude. Its music scene? Non exactement.

But to paraphrase Ernest Hemingway, Paris is a

musical feast, boasting a tantalizing breadth that

didn’t exist ten years ago. In particular, a culture

boom has taken place in the formerly dingy

Ninth, 11th, and 20th arrondissements. This

means more bands, more shows, and—yourself excepted—

fewer tourists. Here’s what’s going down in the City of Lights.

LOCAL HEROES

Julien “Djouls” Lakshmanan and Loïk Dury are the production powerhouse behind the website ParisDJs.com, broadcasting their remixes of Afro-funk, reggae, and soul from the duo’s tiny studios in the 20th arrondissement. Dury, a former rock radio programmer, also scores films for some of France’s top young directors and recently launched his own label, Kraked, with a focus on neo-soul.

devotee Thurston Moore thumbing through the discount crates.

As a journalist and host of Radio France’s C’est Lenoir, Bernard Lenoir has been a key influence on the music scene since the ’70s, when he broadcast Joy Division’s only live performance in Paris (later released as Les Bain Douches). Since then, Lenoir, now 62, has cultivated an international following for his live-in-the-studio recordings with au courant artists like Feist and Beirut.

La Dame Blanche is hard to find— it’s just a tiny blue storefront in the Latin Quarter—and terminally shy owner Régis Page likes it that way. For 21 years, Page has earned a worldwide rep as an expert in rare vinyl and obscure recordings of rock, pop, and film soundtracks. Stop by and you might spot La Dame

DJ Solo’s regular electro-punk throwdown Toxic draws some of the biggest dancing crowds in Paris. And, after several fits and starts, he’s launching his own record label—Black Frog Entertainment— with plans to make a new style of moody electronica he describes as “booty gothic” the next big thing on the city’s club scene.

Director Romain Gavras garnered attention this year for the violent cinema verité music video he shot for Justice’s “Stress.” (Tourist alert: Beware of French thugs in shiny satin Justice jackets!) The 27-year-old is also a cofounder of Kourtrajmé, a collective of Paris-based filmmakers and multimedia artists funded (in part) by actor Vincent Cassel.

BARS AND CLUBS
Milk at La
Flèche D’or

La Flèche D’or
102 RUE DE BAGNOLET, 01 44 64 01 02
La Fleche D’or was once a rundown train station. Now the cavernous
nightclub is a destination for bands such as local electro punks Phospho and
Congopunq, and visiting indies Dr. Dog and Gang Gang Dance. After making
it past some notoriously unfriendly bouncers, grab a bicycle seat at the bar
(beats a stool) and order a 1664 (the PBR of France). Gauloises optional.

La Maroquinerie
23 RUE BOYER, 01 40 33 35 05
This red-lit concert hall is a vast, brick-
walled space with a second-floor
loft that provides a clear view of the
stage. At a max capacity of about
500 people, it’s an intimate space
to see visiting acts like Andrew Bird
and Battles or check out Parisian alt
rockers like La Pompe Moderne.

La Miroiterie
88 RUE MÉNILMONTANT, NO PHONE
At first glance, this former mirror
factory looks like a Pepto-Bismol–
colored crack house. But squeeze
past the heavily graffitied gate and
you’ll find some of Paris’ most eclectic
offerings. Recent gigs included French
hardcore heroes Les Greatfull Dead
Kennedyz and hypnotic West African
kora player Djeli Moussa Conde.

La Bellevilloise
19-21 RUE BOYER, 01 46 36 07 07
In the late 1800s, this imposing building
was HQ for angry Socialists. Now it’s a
bourgeois utopia, with an art gallery
and café. Times change. So does the
music. At night, catch a retro-soul
band on the basement stage; the next
morning, enjoy Hot Chip with your latte
during an electronica-themed brunch.

Le Gambetta
104 RUE DE BAGNOLET, 01 43 70 52 01
Le Gambetta resembles a Parisian
CBGB, as fledgling bands flock here to
play under a blinking set of Christmas
lights and endure the pouting, pierced
kids filling the red vinyl booths and
grotty dance floor. When not hosting
punks, the club is sometimes graced
by bigger acts, like Manu Chao,
slumming it on the tiny stage.

KNOW
YOUR
HISTORY

In 1968, the crimson
curtains of the legendary
Olympia music hall parted
and socially conscious icon
Nina Simone delivered,
in her inimitably intense
way, a performance that
transformed the singer
from troubled American
outcast to international
diva. The High Priestess of
Soul would go on to a level
of critical and commercial
success in France she never
enjoyed Stateside. Are you
listening, Lauryn Hill?

FROM TOP: PIERRE-JEAN GROUILLE; MONITOR PIC TURE LIBRARY/RE TNA UK; KIM CHAPIRON