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Gallic flair: Sébastien Tellier, left, with Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo of Daft Punk

Breadsauce: Kaiser Chiefs

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David Smyth looks at a French-British exchange of music live acts and reveals all that's new on the net.

COULD PARIS STEAL LONDON'S COOL

The days when France's reputation as a musical nation rested on Johnny Hallyday and Joe Le Taxi seem long ago. World-class acts such as Daft Punk, Phoenix, Air and Justice are well established, and a new wave of absurdly young groups like Nelson, Brooklyn and Second Sex could even see Paris pipping New York and London for the title of capital of cool.

So they have the bands, but how does the Parisian live scene match up to ours? A new series of events offers the perfect way to find out. Stage of the Art is taking English acts to Paris and bringing French acts to London, offering a chance for us rosbifs to see if we can still beat them at something other than rugby.

The first of these French-exchange swaps took place last weekend, starting with a set by Sébastien Tellier at London's Institute of Contemporary Arts.

Tellier is a bearded smoothie, a man so French he could have been sketched by one of Montmartre's caricaturists. His new album is called Sexuality and his slow-motion electropop and breathy vocals call to mind Jean-Michel Jarre atop a heart-shaped bed.

His stagecraft extends to standing stock still in a white suit and shades while white lights pass rapidly over his body, but the enthusiastic crowd finds him a hoot.

Tellier, whose album was produced by a member of Daft Punk, speaks highly of the Paris scene. "It's a small town and even if the big music names are rare, they can easily run into each other there," he tells me. "There are a lot of collaborations going on, everyone is generally really respectful of each other's work, and everybody pushes each other to be the best they can."

However, he reveals that he prefers audiences in London - and I'm inclined to agree with him when I catch Dirty Pretty Things in Paris the next day.

They're at the Palais de Tokyo, an impressive building built in 1937 for the Exposition Internationale, all grand columns and bas-relief sculpture with the Eiffel Tower looming just across the Seine.

Inside, it's remarkably similar to our ICA with its trendy bookshop, contemporary art and attendees sporting ironic glasses and complicated trousers.

I enjoy wandering through the galleries between bands - which you can't do in the ICA - but during the concert, despite the rowdiest efforts of Carl Barat's group, the audience offers little more than polite applause.

"Crowds in Paris can be a bit snobby and quiet," admits Laurence Alvart, the director of Stage of the Art. Even if she can't guarantee the best atmosphere in Paris, she hopes to offer something more at future events in April, June and July.

Nothing is confirmed, but she talks of French-Tunisian fashion designer Hedi Slimane and Jarvis Cocker (who lives in Paris these days) having "carte blanche" to curate their own nights, and of collaborative work between Paris-based North Americans Gonzales and Coco Rosie.

The Kills and SoKo (the French Kate Nash) are also pencilled in, and sponsors Eurostar intend to create package deals to make attending shows in both cities easier.

If you can't wait until April, why not nip over anyway and check out other venues including Olympia (think Brixton Academy), Bercy (Wembley Arena) or Nouveau Casino (Bush Hall). The music's great - all they need are a few Brits to liven things up.

For more information -www.stageoftheart.net/www.eurostar.com

DON'T DITCH THE A&R MEN

New EMI boss Guy Hands never said he was getting into the music biz to make friends. However, even this most thick-skinned of executives is starting to feel wounded.

This week he admitted that it has been "harder than we thought" to change the way the major label does business, before alienating still more employees by going after the A&R men.

"What we are doing is taking the power away from the A&R guys and putting it with the suits - the guys who have to work out how to sell music," he told a Munich business summit.

He couldn't have come up with a more effective way of ensuring new talent steers clear of his label. The people in Artists & Repertoire often go to four or more gigs a night all over the country, which might sound like a great laugh at the record company's expense.

At worst they have a lazy herd mentality, all chasing the same act for fear of being left out. But the best - such as Domino Records' Laurence Bell, who signed Franz Ferdinand - are genuine music lovers, and can be the reason bands choose one label over another.

When I talk to musicians about their record deals, nine times out of 10 they tell me they signed on the dotted line because a particular A&R guy had built a strong relationship with them, even a friendship, from the very beginning. I can't see the suits managing that.

NEW ON THE NET

French singer Yael Naim is set for success over here, despite many of the Israel-raised crooner's lyrics being in Hebrew. Thanks to an Apple Mac advert, her bouncy single New Soul has already crept into our chart on digital sales alone and her soothing album is also in download stores now, well before its full release on 31 March.

It must be time for a backlash against the glut of Billy Bragg-influenced singers with faux cockney accents. Oxford's George Pringle is the one to lead the charge. She's proper posh, speaking semi-poetic observations in crisp bored tones over lo-fi electronic wibblings. This week her debut EP is released. Also find four free downloads at rcrdlbl.com/sublabels/DRWND_IN_SND.

Kaiser Chiefs have produced a home video, lovingly crafted by drummer Nick Hodgson, with silly voices, a "talking dog" that doesn't talk and a runaway golf buggy. Type "breadsauce" into www.youtube.com to see the larks of our very own Monkees.

 

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