Music and nightlife in the suburbs

A ways out of central Paris, in Boulogne, this terrace the roof of the Marriot hotel offers a relaxing green vista over the Bois de Boulogne and the Square Léon Blum, rather than a view of the city skyline. Come here for fresh air at sunset in the summer and a quiet out-of-town atmosphere. You shoot up to the terrace in a glass lift, through which you can spy the verdant roof of the hotel, complete with bird nesting boxes...

La Dynamo is everything you'd expect from France's first purpose-built jazz venue, except in one aspect: it's situated out in the suburb of Pantin, far from the madding crowds of Saint-Germain jazzophiles and Belleville hipsters. But it plays its comparative remoteness to its strength, offering a truly diverse programme of largely experimental and fusion-oriented jazz that few inner-city venues would dare to try out on their more conservative audiences...

A hub for fringe musical and performance activity just outside Paris, the Mains d'Oeuvres is a huge former leisure centre for car factory workers that provides rehearsal and performance space for bands and specialises in leftfield electro, rock mavericks and multimedia artists. It also frequently hosts the Festival des Attitudes Indé (end Sept-early Oct) – an indie music festival for up-and-coming bands...

A recent facelift has turned Ferme du Buisson, formerly a chocolate factory, into one of the hottest spots on the city’s cultural map. The venue hosts all kinds of concerts and plays in its 800-capacity barn; two cinema screens and a three-floor contemporary arts centre complete the picture. With this setup, Ferme du Buisson is uniquely suited to multimedia events: here, theatre rubs shoulders with the plastic arts, films, dance and music...

Now there’s another reason to head to Montreuil apart from the Marché aux Puces, in the form of great new neighbourhood bar Le Mange Disc. One major draw is the sun terrace, while the main attraction is the old-fashioned and charming rock’n’roll ambiance that harks back to the 1980s rockabilly revival. At the bar, a record player blasts out doo-wop, teen rock and rhythm and blues, while a bartender with slicked-back hair asks warmly, ‘What can I serve you, pet?’...

Un-Parisian in its shape, look and sheer size, this former office block has nevertheless wormed its way onto Paris’s arts and music scene since its opening in 2010. Its three floors house artists, architects, social workers, a 200-seat concert hall, a 50-seat cinema and an exhibition space. Club promoters such as the Soukmachines and 75021 collectives also put on regular nights here...

It's official: the party is moving to the banlieue. With central Paris afflicted by increasingly draconian sound regulations, ravers have been staging a steady exodus to the suburbs, where there’s a whole lot more space and far fewer sleep-deprived neighbours to complain about the noise. The movement’s been spearheaded by the likes of the 6B, as well as less official venues; and now the Alter Paname is throwing its 2,000 square metres of floor space into the fray...