Air
This is definitely one of the most well-known French bands. Their mellow indie pop has had many phases from electronic psychedelia to hypnotic smooth jams. They've also collaborated with a bunch of fantastic artists. Air sounds extremely French, but at the same time it manages to be unlike any other band.
Phoenix
Phoenix is also one of the most acclaimed French bands. They've made fresh indie pop-rock for years sometimes with more disco-driven songs and sometimes with guitar-driven indie rock songs. Their English is very good and that's probably a reason why they've become so popular also outside France.
Yeti Lane
Yeti Lane is one of the greatest electro-indie bands of recent years. Their sound is very close to that of Grandaddy's, but they also have some influences from earlier electro bands such as Kraftwerk. high and airy vocals, analog synths, electric guitars and space effects. What more could you want?
Alcest
Alcest is a fantastic post-rock band playing airy and massive sounds. Unlike many post-rock bands of the 00's, their sound is not sad and depressing. There's hope and grandiloquent power in their sparkling electric guitars and chiming bell-like organ sounds.
Tristesse Contemporaine
This post-punk, new wave band is more modern than the similar bands in the 80's, but they've taken the same kind of ominous disco sound with echoey vocals and treble-filled bass. The complex melodies also carry some resemblance to progressive rock.
Permanent Fatal Error
This instrumental post-rock band knows how to make dramatic music. It's all ominous and anticipating, but it does not explode into massive walls of music, but maintains the dark undertones throughout. Very artistic and very cool stuff.
Forever Pavot
This psychedelic rock band uses shamanistic and hypnotic melodies in their songs. The instrumentation relies heavily on rock organs and was-pedal electric guitars. The vocals are smooth and quiet. The bass lines are also interesting.
The Limiñanas
Despite their Spanish sounding name, this band is French and sings in English. They combine White Stripes like garage drums with 70's organ sounds and banjo. The songs are quite simple jams of hypnotic loops, where the clean and high-pitched vocals sing the same lyrics over and over again.
Melody's Echo Chamber
This band is a prime example of the new coming of psychedelic rock in recent years. Their guitars bear straight resemblance to 60's psychedelia bands, but the vocals are full of echo and the melodies are hypnotic and strange rather than catchy.
La Femme
La Femme is an electronica-indie band that plays hypnotic songs with a disco beat and spoken-word-like vocals together with chanson-like French vocals. The sounds are extremely French. It's a class-act throughout, even though I would probably want a bit more experimentation into the mix.
Brigitte
Brigitte plays classy indie pop with some elements from surf-rock aesthetics, some from chanson tradition and some from 60's mod-pop. The French vocal harmonies of two women are nice to listen to. The melodies are innovative, yet quite retro.
Hey Hey My My
This indie band has definitely listened to Pixies, since there are so many resemblances there. Still, it's not by far as rough as the alternative rock in the 80's. They use acoustic instruments together with clean electric guitars and the vocals are clean, but a bit off-key.
The Dø
This half-French, half-Finnish duo make a lot of electronic stuff nowadays, but they are at their best making singer-songwriter style blues-pop. The delicate female vocals are original and organic. The production is top notch.
Dionysos
This funky indie rock band sounds very 90's and also very French. The sounds mix pop tunes with grunge and funk aesthetics and the result is a unique mix that sounds very original at the same time sounding like any other music.
Stuck in the Sound
This is one of my personal favourites on this list. Their melancholic indie rock ranges from folk-like quiet acoustic tunes to big walls of sound with delicate vocals singing melodic tunes. Good songwriting and production.
William Sheller
William Sheller plays perky singer-songwriter indie-pop with catchy melodies and French lyrics. There are definite influences from 60's pop-rock tradition. Acoustic and clean sounding electric guitars play beautiful backgrounds together with the melodic bass lines.
Milo
Milo's songs are catchy and should please friends of power-pop and 90's alternative rock. There's some authentic roughness in the music, even though the melodies and production are quite basic stuff. Milo's French vocals sound beautiful with the melodic style.
Exsonvaldes
This indie-pop band uses the kind of sounds as most of the 80's new wave bands. Echoey and clear guitars that at the same time sound quite dark. Disco beat of the drums along with the melodic structures makes this band really pleasant to listen to.
Aline
Aline sounds exactly like the French version of the Smiths. Same kinds of melancholic, yet disco-driven melodies topped up with clear electric guitars and cool vocals and excellent drumming. If you want to hear The Smiths with French lyrics, I highly recommend this band.
Sibyl Vane
Sibyl Vane plays quite rough sounding gypsy-style alternative pop. They use jumping beats and overdriven guitars, that are great for dancing while still maintaining that street-cred. The English sounds really strange due to a heavy accent.
Hushpuppies
Hushpuppies sounds a lot like the English guitar-driven indie bands, apart from their French accent. Bands like Maxïmo Park and Hot Hot Heat are quite close to this sound. Perfect for indie-disco kind of evenings with beer and partying.
Merci Beaucoup
This band sounds as French as it can possibly get. They sing in English but have the strongest French accent in their English. Music is indie electro-pop with electronic disco beats and walls of cheesy organ sounds. Still, even with all of its clichés, this is worth listening.
Victorine
Victorian plays quite typical French indie-pop, where guitars stay on the background, while electric beats and organ sounds give power to choruses. The male and female vocal harmonies sing in French and there are even some non-lyrical singing bits.
Elli Madeiros
Elli Madeiros plays quite rough sounding indie rock with some pop-influences. The guitars buzz with overdrive, while the vocals are a bit off-key and laconic. There's some non-melodic shouting in there as well.
Telephone
Telephone plays lo-fi garage rock with French lyrics. The vocals are not particularly good, but the attitude is quite rock n' roll and thus, not very French. For the friends of classic rock and garage sounds, this is fairly good stuff.
Rock and Roll
This band's name makes it very difficult to search for any of their music. They play indie rock with disco beats and anguished vocals. This is good for partying, but I would hope for a bit more innovative approach.
Neïmo
This garage rock and psychedelic rock band plays aggressive overdriven guitars. The vocals are not quite as raunchy as you could hope, but the attitude is great. There are some influences from stoner-rock genre as well.
Plasticines
Plasticine plays fast and aggressive garage rock with female vocals. The guitar riffs are well constructed and the sounds are just enough crappy to make the sound authentic. Choruses are more pop-driven, but the attitude remains rock n' roll.
The Teenagers
The Teenagers play catchy and fast indie rock with some electronic sounds. This is very typical 00's indie stuff, where the choruses rise higher from verses to allow young people to dance to them and sing along.
Marie Pierre Arthur
There aren't that many French singing singer-songwriters who have captured the aesthetics of Americana folk-indie, but Marie Pierre Arthur comes quite close with echoey folk-rock. Her vocals are great and the band is playing beautifully.
Tahiti 80
This electronica band plays pleasant and melodic indie pop with high-pitched English male vocals. The undertone is very poppy. Clean electric guitars intertwine with drum machines and electronic organ sounds.
The Little Rabbits
This band really doesn't sound that French. They play clear electric guitars in surf-rock/indie style and their overall sound actually sounds quite a lot like The Coral. Very refreshing, yet familiar sounds from a great indie rock band.
The Tellers
The Tellers sound very English indeed. Right down to the accent. Their music could be described as folky indie pop with some rock influences. The melodies are catchy and sounds are authentic and pleasant.
Poni Hoax
Poni Hoax plays huge sounding electro-disco with indie-style baritone vocals. Electric guitars and electronic organ sounds share the place of a main instrument. The choruses really stand out with their massive sound walls.
Sébastien Tellier
Sébastien Tellier is one of the most original characters in music world. He has represented France in Eurovision song contest, but his music is not basic euro-dance stuff. He plays everything from chanson to pop and from blues to rock. His appearance could be described as dirty sexy man with attitude.
Chinoi
Chino plays interesting electronic indie rock. The sounds are very big with massive organ sounds and drums on the background. The vocals are just a bit off-key to bring that indie sound, comparable to bands like Modest Mouse.
Total Warr
Total Warr plays echoey indie pop with huge sounds. There are organs, chorals and electronic beats on the background, but the lead vocals maintain their calm approach. The melodies are quite dark, but not sad.
Jean-Michel Jarre
Jean-Michel Jarre is one of the most legendary synthesiser musicians of all times. His album Oxygene is a masterpiece with only one song divided into different parts. The melodies are dark and the sounds are very futuristic considering they were made in the 70's.
Tomorrow's World
Tomorrow's World is a very classy modern band playing electronic instruments together with more traditional band instruments. Their music is calm and dream-like. The vocals and melodies remind me of some of the songs by Air.
Ibeyi
Ibeyi plays indie-pop that has strong R&B and blues influences. Main stage is given to fantastic vocals, while the backgrounds are merely put together by electronic beats and delicate piano sounds. Very classy stuff.
Fránçois & The Atlas Mountain
This band plays piano-driven beautiful indie-pop where the melodies are melancholic, yet not desperate. The delicate French vocals sound beautiful and I'm glad they have used their own language instead of English, since here, French is the only right language.
Benjamin Fincher
Benjamin Fincher plays electronica indie pop with soft space sounds and a lot of echo. His high-pitched vocals are accurate and pleasant. There's something Grandaddy-like in the sounds, although the music is not quite as innovative or doesn't have as good attitude.
Lou Doillon
Lou Doillon plays beautiful indie-pop with excellent melodies and classy band on the background. Her voice is just enough raspy to give it character but maintaining clear high notes. Guitars and pianos remind me of Moby.
CocoRosie
Colorise plays beautiful and dreamy indie pop with calm piano. The vocals drip honey, but rise to more peppy levels in choruses. They also use some surprising instrumentation such as horns and electronic samples.
Syd Matters
Syd Matters' music is drawing influences from general indie scene going towards such classics as R.E.M. and The Smiths, but they still bring something more modern to the mix with interesting use of samples and psychedelic instrumentation.
Woodkid
Woodkid is ambitious indie pop with industrial and echoey sounds and smooth melancholic melodies.
The vocals are calm while the backgrounds sound more like the horns of doom. This is definitely one of the most interesting artists on this list.
Lescop
This band plays modern and cold indie pop-rock with some influences from post-punk and new wave. The sounds are quite industrial, but it's refreshing to hear French lyrics in this type of music. Electronic instruments intertwine nicely with more traditional band instruments.
(Please) Don't Blame Mexico
This is one of the best indie-rock bands on this list. Their fast drumming and melodic structures have a variety of different layers, while the clear vocals have just enough lo-fi attitude. They also use string instruments such as violin to create fast battles between them and guitars.
Granville
Granville's clear and chiming guitars remind me of 80's alternative rock bands such as The Smiths, but the overall sound is like a mix of chanson aesthetics and Vampire Weekend-styled afro-indie. Definitely an interesting mix of different styles.
Revolver
Revolver makes classy indie rock that knows how to use fast drums, chiming electric guitars and highs and lows. The vocal harmonies take turns and the choruses make you want to dance. The melodies are catchy.
Devianz & Vincent Cavanagh
In this music, Pixies-style, anguished vocals meet Eurovision melodies. It's kind of far-fetched analogy to say that, but that's the only way to bring up the pop-oriented style of this otherwise classy lo-fi grunge band's sound.
Juveniles
Juveniles play fast electro punk-rock with heavy pop-orientation. The vocals are quite industrial in their style. The choruses are very catchy, while electronic samples fill the sound up to the skies. This band must have a great atmosphere at the gigs.
M83
This rhythmic indie rock band relies on 80's sounds and commercial indie rock aesthetics. I would hope for a bit more authentic approach to the sounds, but I guess it makes sense to make this kind of indie-disco band sound a bit plastic.
We Are Enfant Terrible
This indie rock band draws influences from club music as well as from garage blues, resulting in a strange mix of different styles. The vocals are sung in a laconic manner, which makes the peppy backgrounds sound a bit cooler than they would be with a different kind of singer.
Daft Punk
Daft Punk is obviously one of the most well-known French bands, especially after their hit Get Lucky. To me, this song seemed to me to have changed their club music quite a bit. To me, Daft Punk is the band that made über-cool music video to a hypnotically bouncing song Around the World.
MC Solaar
French rap music is somewhat of a big deal. And I can truly see why. I don't normally like rap music at all, but the French rappers know how to make beautiful and urban backgrounds for their songs with truly cool and political lyrics. MC Solaar is the brightest star in this kind of music.
Fauve
Fauve mixes guitar-based indie music with melancholic melodies to French political sounding rap. Their backgrounds are carefully constructed and sound brilliant even to someone who doesn't normally like any kind of hip-hop.
Kid Bombardos
Kid Bombardos plays melodic indie rock with some blues influences. The guitars are very classy and the vocals have just enough raspiness to help seal the deal. There's also a slight resemblance to gypsy music.
The Rodeo
The Rodeo plays classy bluesy indie rock with English lyrics sung by a great voiced woman. The instruments include rough electric guitars as well as banjos. The overall lazy feel of the band is very pleasant indeed.
MAI LAN
This singer-songwriter plays cute and endearing indie-pop. Mainly acoustic instruments come together with innovative rhythms played with claps as well as normal drums. This is the kind of music you usually find in indie films.
Franz Is Dead
Franz Is Dead plays beautiful lo-fi folk music with pop melodies. The vocals are quite versatile leaping from low levels to high notes. This music is very simple and doesn't have much production, but it's all good that way.
Herman Düne
Herman Düne's music is a mix of Americana folk, country western and latino-style guitars. This is the kind of music that works brilliantly for driving a car through a desert into the sunset. It's very non-French.
Emile Simon
Emile Simon's music is very endearing and beautiful. Her childlike voice is filled with emotion while the backgrounds are simplistic and eerie. You could easily compare her style to Angus & Julia Stone. It's all about her great voice really.
Stranded Horse
Stranded Horse is stage name for a man who plays Malian instrument kora quite masterfully. He sings both in English and in French. He makes beautiful and quiet hypnotic songs and he has for example covered The Smiths on his instrument.
Détroit
Chanson and melancholic indie folk meet up in this band's eerie and hauntingly beautiful music. The band is at it's best in simple songs where instrumentation is minimal. The melodies are excellent and the calm atmosphere makes this even better.
Mélanie Pain & Julien Doré
This duo makes melancholic and beautiful folk music. The male and female vocals take turns and backgrounds are filled with subtle acoustic guitar strumming and beautiful string arrangements. Desperate, yet very beautiful stuff.
Pony Pony Run Run
I don't really like the general electro-pop sound of this band, but the acoustic versions of some of the songs are actually quite good. I just wish these kinds of artists would realise that by drowning the great melodies and delicate vocals in studio mess does not pay off.
Mina Tindle
Mina kindle plays fairytale-like folk music where the guitar does most of the work in the instrument department, while the soft and beautiful French vocals make this music special. The melodies are well constructed.
Gotan Project
This quite unique band plays gypsy chanson music where Argentinan tango meets gypsy instruments and melodies while the vocals resemble French cocktail lounge music.The drums are more modern than rest of the instrumentation.
Manu Chao
Manu Chao makes latin music that sounds exactly like it would've been made in Latin America. The artist obviously has roots in the latin world, but he started his musical career in Paris. Especially his song Me Gustas Tu was a major international hit.
Noir Désir
Noir Désir plays music that has influences from many kinds of world music. There's something quite African in the rhythms, something quite Latin American in the guitar strums and something quite slavic in the melodies. The sounds are more Western.
Henri Salvador
Henri Salvador plays smooth and soft bossanova with cheesy French vocals. This is like the latin version of French chanson. His voice is charismatic and I'm sure he's quite the charmer on his gigs. Very pleasant music as long as you get over the vibe of a dirty old man.
Serge Gainsbourg
Serge Gainsbourg is one of the best known French Chanson singers. He's well-known for his dirty old man image, which is enhanced by having women moaning over his songs. The songs, however, are very pleasant to listen to.
Alain Bashung
Alain Bashing plays extremely French chanson style pop-rock, where his voice extends from highs to lows easily. The background band is quite cheesy, but the melodies are good enough to make this artist somewhat interesting.
Benjamin Biolay
This is kind of modern chanson, where French baritone vocals take the main stage over beautiful and melancholic melodies accompanied by quiet piano. There are similarities to Eurovision ballads, but it's not quite as cheesy.
Mathieu Boogaerts
This artist's swingy chanson draws influences from jazz, even though the melodies are quite simple and expectable. The instrumentation is classic jazz instrumentation and his smooth vocals are very pleasant to listen to.
Pauline Croze
Pauline Croze plays very classic chanson with vibrating beautiful voice over strummed acoustic guitar. I don't know why, but again the artist seems to be naked in the album cover. This seems to be somewhat of a thing with French female singer-songwriters.
Françoise Hardy
Françoise Hardy's beautiful music is accompanied by classical grand piano. The main thing, however, is her absolutely beautiful voice that sings melancholic and beautiful melodies. Absolutely one of the best artists on this list.
Edith Piaf
This lady is definitely well-known around the world. She pretty much defines what French chanson is all about. Vibrating yet strong vocals, horn-filled backgrounds and massive orchestrations depicting simple melodies.
Emma Daumas
Emma Daumas plays quite modern indie pop-folk. One of the most distinctive features is that there's a steel-drum in the background. Her voice is very beautiful and the songs have interesting melodies, but the production could be a bit classier.
Yann Tiersen
This artist is best known for his original score to the film Amelie. He makes classical music where piano takes the lead. The melodies are quite modern and beautiful. It's of course instrumental. Very nice to listen to as a background music.
Jean Claude Vannier
Jean Claude Vannier makes quite grandiloquent instrumental music that sounds a lot like film scores. I'm not sure if he has actually made film scores or if he has just got that style, but that's how it sounds like.
Gong
Gong plays fantastic shamanistic progressive rock. It's usually counted to belong to Canterbury scene, although the band was based in France. Long songs with crazy solos and hypnotic space jams in the 70's style.
Moving Gelatine Plates
This band plays quite typical 70's style progressive rock with some traditional folk influences. The rhythms are obviously a bit strange and the melodies are hypnotically ominous. The English vocals are so badly pronounced that it's sometimes difficult to recognise them as English.
Natural Snow Buildings
This hypnotic and eerily beautiful post-rock band relies on echoey, yet clear guitars. Most of the music is instrumental. this is the perfect kind of music to just listen to while lying on the sofa after a hard day's work.
Aluk Todolo
This hypnotic psychedelic rock band plays garage-style shamanistic lo-fi jams with overdriven guitars and steady drum beats. it's not very pretty, but the attitude is great. Definite stoner rock experience.
Dead Horse One
Dead Horse One is a fantastic psychedelic rock band with quite heavy, yet melodic approach. Their music is a mixture of Krautrock hypnotising and 60's psychedelic guitars. Vocals don't really have that important function in this music.
Ulan Bator
Ulan Bator plays dark and industrial post-punk/new wave with French vocals. The guitars are quite fantastic and drums and bass do their job seamlessly in the background. This is also great for eom-indie-discos.
Catherine Ribeiro + Alpes
This progressive rock group has very traditional sounds in the folk/progressive rock/psychedelia scene. Their music is mostly instrumental, but they also use vocals as instruments, which makes that sort of hippy feeling that you sense listening to them.
The Sudden Death of Stars
This Krautrock-styled band also takes some influences in their sounds from surf-rock and art-rock scene. It actually sounds quite a lot like Velvet Underground from time to time. The 60's organ sounds are very familiar.
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