M83, Laurent Garnier at DEAF

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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