the monthly BEAT: Miracle Mile/Mid-City/Fairfax. Ooh LA L.A. Festival.

Time to practice your French, fellow Angelenos -- the Ooh LA L.A. Festival is coming to town. The third annual French music event is the only one of its kind and caliber in Los Angeles, and it takes over the El Rey for three days at the end of this month.

The big highlight is Nouvelle Vague's performance on Sept. 29, when the French band known for taking on rock's classics and giving them a sultry twist tackles a new challenge: a musical directed by Jean-Charles de Castelbajac. It's called "Dawn of Innocence," and although I'm not too familiar with his work, here's a video preview of a past collaboration between the two.



Sept. 30 will feature a performance by the collective Tinariwen, and on Oct. 1, Birdy Nam Nam will be joined by DJ Cam and Feadz. Check out more info here.

The Ooh LA L.A. Festival takes place from Sept. 29-Oct. 1 at the El Rey, located at 5515 Wilshire Blvd. in Mid-City.

-- Chau Tu

Check It. Nouvelle Vague.

The week after the 8.8 earthquake that rocked Chile, I started having trouble sleeping. I live in Santiago, which wasn't nearly as affected as other regions of this skinny country, but certain noises would just set me off, and I'd stay up until 4-5 a.m. missing the days when I'd just drop off at night.

That's when I reintroduced myself to Nouvelle Vague. Their soft, romantic bossa nova covers of 80s punk songs were exactly what my haggard, nervous spirit needed.

Just wrapping up the U.S. leg of their 2010 tour, the French Nouvelle Vague does extraordinary covers -- and I generally hate covers, but these are great.

Despite the dreamy, soft quality of their music, it's anything but boring. Sometimes drawing from the dark and dissonant like Depeche Mode, Joy Division, Bauhaus and sometimes softening up old pop ballads like Blondie's "Heart of Glass," the dreaminess is exactly what those who are, well, dreamless kind of need.

Lamentably, I just missed their Los Angeles stop at the Henry Fonda (because I'm in South America), but their vintage-style videos are readily available on YouTube. Below two of the four appear on the Brittish BalconyTV singing Sex Pistols "God Save the Queen."

-- Lauren Williams