This song is the only release by French house trio Stardust, composed of Benjamin Diamond, Alan Braxe, and Thomas Bangalter, who you probably recognize as one half of Daft Punk along with Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. Out of all Daft Punk-adjacent projects, this is the one which most readily can be called Rollerwave, which is why I assume Stardust are listed on Rollerwave’s entry on the Aesthetics Wiki.
This is an infectious piece of dance from the peak of French House’s popularity, when its novelty on American shores had not yet worn off. Despite being over 20 years old at this point, the song and accompanying music video are callbacks to an even earlier period of time, a halcyon childhood summer’s day spent engaged in ultimately futile pursuits.
The music video is startlingly convincing, authentic to the point of being unsettling. It follows a young boy as he builds a handmade glider, which he proceeds to unleash over warm grassy hills, where it winds up in the hands of the trio, who stand playing perched atop a lavishly refreshing cloud, before tossing it back down and returning it to its rightful owner.
Along the way, we catch glimpses of the trio’s subtle humor by means of completely fictional songs by entirely fictional bands on the TV screen in the boy’s living room- titles like “Luv On The Beach” by Samanthra, “Hotlipz” by Dave Stavroz and “Step On It” by Monstarr Bunch are all displayed, to give us the impression that we are witnessing a brief glimpse into a parallel universe with similar yet distinct musical acts, that Stardust itself is only one of these among many, and that the one song we are hearing- the only one Stardust ever released- is a freak accident sent across the dimensional threshold.
The music video is charming and can only be viewed properly on a warm summer’s day, perhaps paired with a cool drink as part of a summer playlist. It’s directed by acclaimed French auteur Michael Gondry, and you can feel the Gondry schmaltz dripping from every element, from the bickering parents, who are lightly interspersed with the track, to the seamless blend of French and American culture, to the extent that the music video could easily take place in France or America. That timelessness and placelessness only add to the track’s enduring longevity among French House fans.
The song itself, while repetitive, never gets old, always feeling fresh and novel, as unflinching as the good times it symbolizes. Recently, it’s seen a resurgence here on the Internet, with multiple remixes and loops made, as well as extended versions which keep the party going.
“Music Sounds Better With You” is a charming piece of electronic music history, and an important facet of Rollerwave history, too, in that it represents the first instance of French House’s unexpected connection to the genre through retro visuals and a cleverly distorted riff. When I first started this blog, I wanted to create a kind of definitive Rollerwave canon, and the more I do this, going over each entry systematically, the easier it seems to be.