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"Music Sounds Better with You" is the only song by the
French house French house, also known as French touch, filter house and tekfunk, is a style of house music originally produced by French musicians in the 1990s. It is a form of Euro disco and a popular strand of the late 1990s and 2000s European dance m ...
trio Stardust, released on 20 July 1998. It is a dance track built from a guitar riff
sampled Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of so ...
from the 1981
Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan (), is an American singer. Her career has spanned more than five decades, beginning in the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the funk band Rufus. Known as the " Qu ...
song "
Fate Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often ...
". Stardust comprised the producer
Thomas Bangalter Thomas Bangalter (; born 3 January 1975) is a French musician, record producer, singer, songwriter, DJ and composer. Son of French music composer and artist Daniel Vangarde. He is best known as one half of the former French house music duo Daft ...
, the DJ
Alan Braxe Alain Quême (), professionally known as Alan Braxe (born 9 July 1971), is a French electronic music artist. Braxe is most widely known for his collaborative work with electronic bassist Fred Falke and Kris Menace, and for being part of the musi ...
and the vocalist Benjamin Diamond. After the single's release, they disbanded, believing this created "a certain magic and mystery". "Music Sounds Better with You" was initially released on Bangalter's label
Roulé Roulé () was a French record label founded in 1995 by former Daft Punk member Thomas Bangalter. Roulé had a side label entitled ''Scratché'' () which released only one record, produced by the Buffalo Bunch (Paul de Homem-Christo and Romain S ...
, followed by a wider release on
Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...
, accompanied by a music video directed by
Michel Gondry Michel Gondry (; born 8 May 1963) is a French filmmaker noted for his inventive visual style and distinctive manipulation of mise en scène. Along with Charlie Kaufman, he won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay as one of the writers ...
. It debuted at number two on the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
in August 1998 and stayed there for two weeks, becoming one of the UK's bestselling singles that year; it also spent two weeks at the top of the US ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
''
Dance Club Songs Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...
chart. It is
certified Certification is the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestation or confirmation of certain characteristics of a ...
double platinum in the UK, platinum in Australia, gold in Belgium and silver in France. "Music Sounds Better with You" received positive reviews and has been named one of the greatest dance songs of all time by several publications.


Recording

In the mid-1990s, the DJ
Alan Braxe Alain Quême (), professionally known as Alan Braxe (born 9 July 1971), is a French electronic music artist. Braxe is most widely known for his collaborative work with electronic bassist Fred Falke and Kris Menace, and for being part of the musi ...
met
Thomas Bangalter Thomas Bangalter (; born 3 January 1975) is a French musician, record producer, singer, songwriter, DJ and composer. Son of French music composer and artist Daniel Vangarde. He is best known as one half of the former French house music duo Daft ...
of
Daft Punk Daft Punk were a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. Widely regarded as one of the most influential acts in dance music history, they achieved popularity in the late 1990s as p ...
and gave him a demo of his track "Vertigo". Bangalter released the track on his label
Roulé Roulé () was a French record label founded in 1995 by former Daft Punk member Thomas Bangalter. Roulé had a side label entitled ''Scratché'' () which released only one record, produced by the Buffalo Bunch (Paul de Homem-Christo and Romain S ...
in 1997. After the launch, Braxe performed at the Rex Club in Paris, with Bangalter on keyboards and Braxe's friend Benjamin Diamond on vocals. They composed the first version of "Music Sounds Better with You" for the performance, using a looped
sample Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of s ...
from the 1981
Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan (), is an American singer. Her career has spanned more than five decades, beginning in the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the funk band Rufus. Known as the " Qu ...
song "
Fate Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often ...
", sampled using an
E-mu SP-1200 The E-mu SP-1200 is a sampler created by Dave Rossum that was released in August 1987 by E-mu Systems. Like the product it was meant to replace, the SP-12, the SP-1200's intended use was as a drum machine and sequencer for dance music producer ...
. After the performance, the trio worked on the track at Bangalter's home studio, Daft House. They added a bassline using a
Korg Trident This is a list of products manufactured by Korg Incorporated, a Japanese company that produces electronic musical instruments, audio processors and guitar pedals, recording equipment, and electronic tuners. 1960s 1963 * Donca-Matic DA-20: Rhyt ...
synthesiser, drums with a
Roland TR-909 The Roland TR-909 Rhythm Composer is a drum machine introduced by Roland Corporation in 1983, succeeding the TR-808. It was the first Roland drum machine to use samples for some sounds, and the first with MIDI functionality, allowing it to sy ...
drum machine, and
Rhodes piano The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, t ...
. They assembled the instrumental using an
Ensoniq ASR-10 The Ensoniq ASR-10 was a sampling keyboard produced by Ensoniq between 1992 and 1998. The ASR-10 was a follow up product to the very popular Ensoniq EPS and Ensoniq EPS-16+ performance samplers, and was also available with a piano style weigh ...
sampling keyboard, triggering different sections by assigning them to different keys. Diamond's vocals and the final track were compressed with an Alesis 3630. The lyrics were written by all three members; the song initially had more lines, which were deleted. Diamond felt the sparse lyrics were "like a mantra ... something everyone could understand". Braxe recalled the trio listening to the finished song: "We were very happy because we felt like we achieved something original and quite new in its form."


Release

"Music Sounds Better with You" was released as a vinyl single on Bangalter's label
Roulé Roulé () was a French record label founded in 1995 by former Daft Punk member Thomas Bangalter. Roulé had a side label entitled ''Scratché'' () which released only one record, produced by the Buffalo Bunch (Paul de Homem-Christo and Romain S ...
in early 1998. According to Braxe, the song initially confused Paris clubgoers: "It didn't take a long time for people to understand the structure of the track and start to dance on it, but the very first listen the reaction was, 'What is it?'" The single was intended for DJs, but demand grew after copies were distributed at the 1998 Miami Winter Music Conference. According to Roulé co-manager Gildas Loaec,
BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
DJ
Pete Tong Peter Michael Tong, (born 30 July 1960) is an English disc jockey who works for BBC Radio 1. He is the host of programmes such as ''Essential Mix'' and ''Essential Selection'' on the radio service, which can be heard through Internet radio stre ...
was the first radio DJ to play it. Loaec and Diamond said Roulé sold between 250,000 and 400,000 copies. Bangalter did not enjoy the pressure and attention the single brought, as his label Roulé was "supposed to be a hobby, a creative platform". Stardust signed the single to
Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...
, which sold over two million copies worldwide on vinyl and CD. Virgin released it as a CD and
cassette single A cassette single (CS), also known by the trademark cassingle, or capitalised as the trademark Cassette Single, is a music single supplied in the form of a Compact Cassette. The cassette single was first introduced in 1980. History The debu ...
in the UK on 10 August 1998. In the US, it was serviced to
rhythmic contemporary Rhythmic contemporary, also known as Rhythmic Top 40, Rhythmic CHR or rhythmic crossover, is a primarily American music-radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip hop and upbeat R&B hits. Rhythmic contemporary never uses ...
and
contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR, contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by ...
on 15 September 1998, followed by a commercial release on 22 September. It topped the ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' 
Dance Club Songs Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...
chart for two weeks and reached number 62 on the ''Billboard''
Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...
. The song also topped the charts in Greece and Spain and reached the top 10 in at least nine other countries. It is
certified Certification is the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestation or confirmation of certain characteristics of a ...
double platinum in the UK, platinum in Australia, gold in Belgium and silver in France.


Music video

The "Music Sounds Better with You"
music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...
was directed by
Michel Gondry Michel Gondry (; born 8 May 1963) is a French filmmaker noted for his inventive visual style and distinctive manipulation of mise en scène. Along with Charlie Kaufman, he won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay as one of the writers ...
. In the video, a young boy constructs a model aeroplane over a period of several days while the members of Stardust, wearing metallic suits with faces painted silver, perform on television. ''
DJ Mag ''DJ Magazine'' (also known as ''DJ Mag'') is a British monthly magazine dedicated to electronic dance music and DJs. Founded in 1991, the magazine is adapted for distribution in the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, France, Italy, Lat ...
'' described the video as "charming" and "dreamy". The '' Insomniac'' journalist Jonny Coleman wrote that the video "helps reinforce the notion that this whole Stardust concept is supposed to exist in some other familiar but foreign liminal space, something ghostly but still warm and inviting".


Critical reception

John Bush from
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
described "Music Sounds Better with You" as "one of the most irresistible, sublime dance singles of the decade".
Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the music ...
of ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' described it as a "euro-splashed ditty" with "an infectious li'l hook and a solid, old-school disco bassline ... its execution makes it pop with a refreshing energy". Another editor, Annabel Ross, called the song "sublime in its simplicity" and regarded it as one of the best dance songs of all time. Bruce Tantum from ''DJ Mag'' wrote that the song "doesn't do much of anything, really, nor does it have to. It exists in a state of pleasure-giving perfection." In 2001, ''
Mixmag ''Mixmag'' is a British electronic dance and clubbing magazine published in London. Launched in 1983 as a print magazine, it has branched into dance events, including festivals and club nights. History The first issue of ''Mixmag'' was prin ...
'' named "Music Sounds Better with you" the 11th greatest dance song of all time, and in 2013 named it the sixth greatest. In 2018, ''Mixmag'' included it in their list of the 30-time "biggest vocal house anthems". ''
Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...
'' ranked it the 46th best song of the 90s, and included it in ''
The Pitchfork 500 ''The Pitchfork 500: Our Guide to the Greatest Songs from Punk to the Present'' is a book compiling the greatest songs from 1977 to 2006, published in 2008 by Pitchfork Media. The book focuses on specific genres including indie rock, hip-hop, el ...
'', a book compiling the greatest songs from 1977 to 2008. In 2011, ''
Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...
'' named it the 99th best single of the 90s, and 2012 ''Porcys'' ranked it the greatest. In 2017, ''
BuzzFeed BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John S. Johnson III to focus on tracking viral content. Ken ...
'' named it the 72nd greatest dance song of the 90s. In 2022, ''Pitchfork'' named "Music Sounds Better with You" one of the best house tracks of the 90s, while ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' placed named it the 73rd greatest dance song of all time.


Legacy

According to ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'', after the success of "Music Sounds Better with You" Virgin offered Bangalter $3 million to produce a Stardust album. The group created five or six demos, but abandoned them. In 2012, Braxe said there were no plans to release the demos, saying it gave "Music Sounds Better with you" a "certain magic and mystery". Apart from their performance at Rex Club, Stardust performed only once, in a 30-minute set at the Borealis festival in Montpellier, France. Diamond and Braxe resumed their solo careers; Diamond said he found it difficult to return to his own style of music after Stardust, and his record company
Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
pressured him to release more music like "Music Sounds Better with You". Bangalter continued to release music as Daft Punk with his partner
Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo Guillaume Emmanuel "Guy-Manuel" de Homem-Christo (; born 8 February 1974) is a French musician, record producer, singer, songwriter, DJ and composer. He is known as one half of the former French house music duo Daft Punk, along with Thomas Bang ...
. Daft Punk performed a mashup of "Music Sounds Better with You" and their 2000 single " One More Time" on their
Alive 2006/2007 ''Alive 2007'' is the second live album by the French electronic music duo Daft Punk, released on 19 November 2007 by Virgin Records. It features Daft Punk's performance at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy arena in Paris on 14 June 2007 durin ...
tour; a performance was included on the bonus disc of the live album ''
Alive 2007 ''Alive 2007'' is the second live album by the French electronic music duo Daft Punk, released on 19 November 2007 by Virgin Records. It features Daft Punk's performance at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy arena in Paris on 14 June 2007 durin ...
''. ''Pitchfork'' described it as "a combination so 'holy shit' ecstatic it would seem downright cocky if it wasn't so blissful". In 2011,
Big Time Rush ''Big Time Rush'' is an American musical sitcom television series created by Scott Fellows that originally aired on Nickelodeon from November 28, 2009, to July 25, 2013 and is currently available in Paramount+. It focuses on the Hollywood misa ...
sampled the song for their track " Music Sounds Better with U". It was also featured in the 2013 video game ''
Grand Theft Auto V ''Grand Theft Auto V'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the seventh main entry in the Grand Theft Auto, ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2008's ''Grand Theft Auto IV'', and ...
''. In 2019, Stardust
remaster Remaster refers to changing the quality of the sound or of the image, or both, of previously created recordings, either audiophonic, cinematic, or videographic. The terms digital remastering and digitally remastered are also used. Mastering A ...
ed the song for its 20th anniversary; it was reissued by the record label
Because Music Because Music is an independent record label with headquarters in Paris and London. Because Music SAS is the main label, with Because Music Ltd handling the British artist roster. Because Music was founded in 2005 by former president of Virgin F ...
and added to
streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...
platforms.


Track listings


Personnel

Stardust *
Thomas Bangalter Thomas Bangalter (; born 3 January 1975) is a French musician, record producer, singer, songwriter, DJ and composer. Son of French music composer and artist Daniel Vangarde. He is best known as one half of the former French house music duo Daft ...
— guitar, production, songwriting, mixing *
Alan Braxe Alain Quême (), professionally known as Alan Braxe (born 9 July 1971), is a French electronic music artist. Braxe is most widely known for his collaborative work with electronic bassist Fred Falke and Kris Menace, and for being part of the musi ...
— production, songwriting, mixing * Benjamin Diamond — vocals, songwriting Additional musicians * Dominic King — songwriting *
Frank Musker Frank John Musker (born 1951) is a British songwriter and composer. Most prolific in the 1980s and 1990s, he worked with artists such as Sheena Easton, the Babys, Robert Miles, Jennifer Rush, Bucks Fizz, Air Supply, Lucio Battisti, Zucchero, Lisa ...
— songwriting *
Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan (), is an American singer. Her career has spanned more than five decades, beginning in the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the funk band Rufus. Known as the " Qu ...
sample Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of s ...


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Sales and certifications


See also

*
List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. dance chart This is a list of recording artists who have reached number one on ''Billboard magazine's'' Dance Club Songs chart. ''Billboard'' began ranking dance music on the week ending October 26, 1974, and this is the standard music popularity chart in th ...


Notes


References


External links

* * * {{authority control 1998 debut singles 1998 songs Because Music singles English-language French songs House music songs Music videos directed by Michel Gondry Number-one singles in Greece Number-one singles in Spain Songs about music Songs written by Frank Musker Songs written by Thomas Bangalter Virgin Records singles Songs written by Dominic Bugatti