Rock En Seine is Paris’ biggest annual summer festival - and the place where Oasis famously split up in 2009 - but in recent years the top name acts have proved elusive. On today’s show we’re asking how the event has managed to snag Arctic Monkeys, Lana Del Rey, Queens of the Stone Age and Jake Bugg among their first-announced acts.
Meanwhile in the studio, we’re getting to know Dhafer Youssef, the self-taught oud player from Tunisia who’s made Europe his home and jazz his bag, musically speaking.

He tells Catherine Nicholson and France 24 music critic Mark Thompson about his new album “Birds Requiem”, why he loves Nordic musicianship – which he says is ‘more Tunisian than Tunisians’ – and how he’ll be combining with the London Symphony Orchestra this April.

Also on the show: Mali’s Grammy award-winning Tuareg band Tinariwen were forced by war to record their latest album “Emmaar” outside of their home country. We take a listen.

Finally, it’s the return of pop’s pocket rocket and king of funk ‘n’ roll, Prince. We’re checking out his new creations from the album “Plectrum Electrum”.

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