Although a lot of commercial French pop is best avoided, the French rock, pop and techno scene is now taken seriously. Internationally, it's electronic music that's proved the most successful, with the techno group Daft Punk, DJ Laurent Garnier and the mellower sounds produced and mixed by artists such as Alex Gopher and Étienne de Crécy. French rock and pop haven't quite established themselves internationally, but on a national level confidence has risen dramatically and there are some exciting new sounds drawing on the mix of cultures in French society.Big names in world music are almost always in town, in particular zouk musicians from the French Caribbean, and musicians from West Africa. Algerian raï continues to flourish, with singers like Khaled and Cheb Mami enjoying megastar status. As the divisions between world sounds blur, more and more bands have produced their own rewarding hybrids: Les Négresses Vertes, still going strong, were perhaps the first group to experiment on this level and be recognized internationally. The Parisian-based Orchestre National de Barbès has a distinctly African flavour and is made up of ten members, each bringing something of their own musical heritage with them. Manu Chao, former member of Mano Negra, combines Latin American, rap, reggae and rock influences to create his own inimitable style. The Toulouse-based group Zebda parades a strong Maghrebi influence and has an admirable social conscience – profits from some of their records have been donated to suburban regeneration projects. The "marginale" culture of the banlieue, the dispossessed immigrant suburbs, has found musical expression in hip-hop, appreciation of which has become more mainstream. Names to look out for are NTM, IAM and MC Solaar, who has had considerable commercial success with his lyrical style. As for rock, the so-called yé-yé bands, pale imitations of US acts, have thankfully died a death, though France's rock'n'roll megastar still rocks on: now in his sixties, Johnny Halliday is still packing out stadiums and churning out endless soft-rock albums. Fortunately, he does not represent contemporary French rock. More representative of the quality and innovation are the soloists Miossec and Jean-Louis Murat, and the groups Les Rita Mitsouko, Louise Attaque, Noir Désir and La Tordue, whose styles combine rock and distinctively gallic elements. French chanson still exerts a powerful influence on contemporary music. Ever since the great Serge Gainsbourg blended it with jazz, pop and rock in the 1960s and 70s, French auteurs (singer-songwriters) have had serious credibility both at home and abroad. Dominique A has emerged as one of the most interesting singer-songwriters of the moment, while Patrick Bruel's album Entre-Deux shot to the top of the charts in 2002, with new angles on old classics. The rage, however, is increasingly for professionally produced techno and electro, staples of the Parisian club scene. There's even a yearly Techno Parade. Daft Punk has made a name for itself internationally as well as in France, whilst groups such as Air and St-Germain create a mellower sound, mixing electronic sounds with jazz and pop.
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