This post is guest written by Mezzic‘s John Brunner.

Bastille Day is upon us, celebrating not only the famed storming of the fortress but the reconciliation of France. Now while we may not receive the heraldry of bombers and military aircraft flying above our heads as they did over mine in Paris while working for Bureau Export de la Musique Française (French Music Export Office), French cultural bastions host celebrations worldwide to commemorate and celebrate. None of these artists come from the Gainsbourg or Piaf eras, but from the past few years. So stock up a B-cycle basket with fromage, a baguette, and bottle of wine and uncork your own apéro in a park this Sunday.

TRACK 1
We Were Evergreen “Leeway”
Michael and Fabienne met in drama class in Paris, soon after teaming up with William before shipping across the Channel to London. The trio has since warmed those British hearts, earning coveted festival slots with their genuinely catchy indie pop centered around xylophone, ukulele, keys, and effortless youthful energy.

TRACK 2
Concrete Knives “Bornholmer”
Iron Maiden. That’s who this five-piece from Caen, France cite as an influence on their Facebook. Picking up their name purely due to wanting “the most destructive band name ever,” in a short time their debut album Be Your Own King and its punk-inspired playful ruckus landed them at The Great Escape in England. Well deserved, especially for a band whosee labelmates at Bella Union include Veronica Falls.

TRACK 3
Eléphant “Et toi t’es drôle”
Lisa Wisznia and François Villevieille released Collective mon amour this spring, a bombastic bundle of pop. The entire album calls back to that innocent time where the only care in the world was that the hands of the classroom clock weren’t moving fast enough to freedom. The ideal album to use your imagination and make believe you know French.

TRACK 4
The Bewitched Hands “Thank You, Goodbye, It’s Over”
Death and decay dominate the Reims indie rock sextet on their latest album, Vampiric Way. A distinct dichotomy to the pop rock laced over this single. Live in France, The Bewitched Hands are surrounded by a cloaked pale choir in black robes, periodically mutilating and decapitating one another with fluorescent blades and knives. If they ever hosted their own murder mystery, real or fake, it may just be the most interesting choice you could make.

TRACK 5
Gomina “Everywhere”
Space pop also from Caen, the four-piece is on the rise after performing Transmusicales in Rennes last year and earning a prestigious slot on the Les Inrocks Lab new talent competition and music compilation. With synths that slink between pop melodies, they may end up a solid alternative to The Shins down the rue.

TRACK 6
La Femme “Amour dans le motu”
One of the two biggest buzzing bands of the past two years, La Femme is the most effective time machine to the French New Wave years with ingenious attitude. This spring, the group took to the new concert venue Pan Piper in Paris with a performance that explicitly elicited satisfaction from both the crowd and the burlesque dancer on stage. Think Godard meets Gogol Bordello in a Toulouse-Lautrec drug-induced faded spiral.

TRACK 7
Fakear “Kids”
Very little is out on this gamin other than he just signed with the superb booking agency Allo Floride. I discovered him opening for Wax Tailor last winter, alone behind his MPC yet carefree to the stage solitude. A pleasure to catch live, even more so to listen to especially if Shigeto or Ghostly are on your radar.

TRACK 8
Team Ghost “Dead Film Star (TEPR Remix)”
Nicolas Fromageau would perhaps be a tragic figure, had Team Ghost’s music video for this song not involved a mother being bludgeoned by a shovel in front of her daughter. The former half of M83 has, this year, unveiled his debut album alongside a deluge of sound inspired by the cold wave of Joy Division. TEPR, one third of Yelle, picks up the pieces and creates a remix that makes you feel as guilty for dancing to the macabre as The Faint did with their 2001 album.

TRACK 9
Toys “Noise”
Under the watchful eyes of Pierrick Devin, the duo of Paul Prier and Bastien Doremus encapsulate Paris nights in this premier single. Not the romantic, hand-holding lovers along Pont de l’Archêché. No. The Paris nights spent regretting things said, broken promises, and shattered bonds wandering and introspectively fearing the new day.

TRACK 10
FAUVE “Nuits Fauves”
Reimagined chanson as we may conceive this genre that emphasizes the lyrics-no-poetry of words put to music. Started in 2010, FAUVE has become one of the most talked about in France this summer. With lyrics like “we dream to learn again how to breathe” while discussing insecurities and anxieties over drinks and fantasies, FAUVE has a chance to rekindle the amour and curiosity for chanson.

TRACK 11
Lescop “La forêt”
Early April, Lescop announced at noon a free concert at the tiny, grungy concert bar Pop In, where his live music began. By night, the bar had so many people scrambling to catch the cold wave artist that he generously gave an unexpected, unannounced second free concert minutes after the first to please those who came. A testament to the massive buzz surrounding this Pop Noire artist, second only to labelmates Savages.

TRACK 12
Vitalic “Fade Away”
Pascal Arbez emerged on the French electro scene in 1996, patiently waiting until his first album OK Cowboy hit in 2005. He returned late last year with Rave Age and a new live experience, VTLZR, which is alighting festival beaches in Cannes and dance floors throughout Europe.  “Fade Away” is his latest single, a cinematic swirl of bad luck as entertaining as a Tarantino film.

TRACK 13
Tomorrow’s World “So Long My Love”
Jean-Benoît of Air met Lou Hayter of New Young Pony Club long ago, yet it took a second meeting in the presence of Jarvis Cocker to bring Tomorrow’s World into fruition. The debut album hit French shelves this spring, presenting a new, unexpectedly David Lynchian universe from the famed French musician.

TRACK 14
Christine and the Queens “The Loving Cup”
Word of Christine began whispering amid the music circle in 2011 around the single, “Narcissus is Back.” 2013 sees the pop singer Christine edging closer to a first album, teasing only with a new EP off of Selah Sue and Django Django’s label Because Music. With inspiration lovingly culled from Michael Jackson, Andy Kaufman and Lou Reed, the Faux Queen and her entourage are rapidly calling all to their royal pop court.

TRACK 15
Mina Tindle “Too Loud (Sky Dancers Remix)”
Sky Dancers, now called I.V., had the honor and challenge to come up with a remix as befitting as the original track from Mina Tindle. Mina’s debut Taranta was a refreshing, authentic account of the French singer’s musical journeys that saw her previously in New York and Austin. Beautifully diverse, the two artists manage to build something as beautiful as the first.

TRACK 16
Owlle “Disorder”
It’s not often that a new artist ends up with an official remix for the likes of Depeche Mode, even less so that the remix performs better in charts than the original. That is what happened in Germany when Owlle’s “Heaven” remix was released on the Depeche Mode EP. “Disorder” perfectly presents the pop singer’s hauntingly beautiful voice, rising into a shiver-inducing crescendo of dance pop glory.

TRACK 17
Jupiter “Starlighter”
Amélie may just be one of the cutest French artists since, well… Amélie Poulain. After meeting on a London dance floor, she teamed up with Quarles to release one of the most under-the-radar electro-funk-disco albums in Juicy Lucy of the past few years.

TRACK 18
Saint Michel “Katherine”
Self-described French romantic electro pop from the land of kings, queens, Marie Antoinette, Housse de Racket and Phoenix. The two men, separated by ten years, have grand ambitions for the future. Having the music video for “Katherine” depict the two manipulating New York buildings, one of their first videos, gives further evidence that France is reaching beyond the Seine and skies of Paris to this very day.