Dahlia formed in 1999 in the province of Brittany in northwest France as a collaboration between guitarist Guillaume Fresneau and cellist Armel Talarmain.

Celebrated French rapper Disiz La Peste (Dis Is The Plague) began his acting career in Dans tes rêves (In Your Dreams), a film that relates the story of a young rapper trying to make his way in the music industry.

Rock and roll, garage, hard-core, street punk — from Black Flag to Agnostic Front to Crisis, Frustration isn’t just a sentiment, it’s a way of life! With Frustration, “Your life will be sadder, but it’ll be more lucid.”

Annie shows off her skills as a chanteuse, her sharp wit, and her penchant for penning clever lyrics in this rockin’ number from her band Ma blonde est une chanteuse. See if you can count how many of Annie’s personae you catch a glimpse of, and how many of her Annie-mated wordplays you follow in this fun video. Beware: the song is seriously catchy and may leave you wanting more!

From dreams to reality, putting forth “a little bit of energy each day,” Annie Chartrand, a vocalist who debuted singing behind her bathroom door, burst onto the music scene in 2006. Here is an interview with the singer of Ma blonde est une chanteuse [My Girlfriend Is a Singer]—a group that's actually part of a love story…

Mellow musician Bertrand Pierre sets the poignant poetry of French grand écrivain Victor Hugo to slow and soulful musical compositions. A man of many talents, Bertrand Pierre is also quite a performer live and acoustically.

Ina-Ich, singer, songwriter, composer, and instrumentalist: this rockin’ babe has it all! Her song “Âme armée” shows off her many talents, blending elements of screamo, metal, rock, electronica, and even classical music into a passionate, intense ballad about the battle scars of war.

Debout Sur Le Zinc is a seven-member group that plays a unique fusion of rock and traditional French, Irish, and Gypsy folk music. The band’s name (which means “standing on the zinc,” as in the zinc countertop of a bar) comes from the Jacques Prévert poem “Et la fête continue”—and indeed DSLZ is the perfect music for a fête!

The band No One Is Innocent (whose name is also the title of a single by the seminal punk band the Sex Pistols—coincidence?) have described themselves as “electro-rock-blues” and list influences as diverse as Beck, Betty Davis, and Black Sabbath.

“La Peur” was written around the time of France’s most recent presidential election, and if you listen to the lyrics, it’s not hard to hear its influence on the song’s theme. Perhaps now No One will write an ode to the USA’s new president; they could call it “L’Espoir.”

Get lost in the dreamy lyrics and musical styling of Vincent Venet with this song from his 2005 album “Humeur.” Venet, who describes himself as an author, composer, performer, and director, wrote and composed the album in just several weeks in the beautiful Ardennes of Belgium.

This musical adaptation of Marceline Desbordes-Valmore’s poem “La Sincère,” performed by Karin Clercq, is a touching and troubling song — themes the video captures well with its New York setting. You can hear tracks from her brand new album, La Vie Buissonnière, here.

Lunatic Age is a four-member group from France’s Montpellier, a band that makes rock and roll “as though every song could be the last.” The song “À quoi bon?” deals with the heavy subjects of alcoholism and child abuse.

Jeronimo is the musical alias of Belgian singer-songwriter Jérôme Mardaga. “Les mains qui tremblent” is a solemn song about the sadness that comes from a break up.

“Tes lacets sont des fées” is an upbeat tune by rock band Dionysos, accompanied by singer Olivia Ruiz. This animated clip transports us into an inferno of love and innocence.

“Neige” is another fantastical number from French rock band Dionysos. The group, which has been together since high school, lists several film directors among their influences, and it’s not hard to see the impact of one in particular, Tim Burton, on the dark, whimsical stylings of this video.