Madame Bruni, who appears with "Raphael," is not the only performer with pedigree. Thomas Dutronc is the son of sixties superstar actress Françoise Hardy and popular singer Jacques Dutronc. He puts a decided Django-esque vibe into "J'suis pas d'ici."

I had never heard of Constance Amiot, but I quickly claimed the artist's "Clash dans le tempo" as my favorite cut. The video to the fast-paced, phonetically rich song is above.

A breezy bossa nova tune, Les Escrocs' "Assedic" is actually a clever bite at life on the dole. Radio France Internationale describes the group as "impertinent" and "socially committed."

A veteran actress, Sandrine Kiberlain has turned herself into a highly respected singer in recent years. Her lovely tune "Le Quotidien" has a sixties swing to it, with a light country twang in the back. Her MySpace page announces a new album in October. This new fan is pre-ordering.

When I studied in France a quarter of a century ago, I was too young, dumb, and besotted with The Clash to appreciate the world's greatest songwriting tradition. Now I've seen the light. If I were lucky enough to travel to Paris as it comes back to life in these waning days of summer, I'd pop Acoustic France in my iPod. I'd listen to it over the Atlantic, and as soon as I hit the pavement I'd start looking out for these young stars performing live.