Stardust: "Music Sounds Better With You" (***)

Uplifting!

According to allmusic.com gossip, Thomas Bangalter of Daft Punk was offered 3 million dollars to produce a full-length album as Stardust, but he turned it down. Today Stardust is no more - the project only lasted for this one single and that was that. But what a single it is! It's a tasteful and upbeat piece of filtered house - a definition that we know today as its own genre. This is one of those singles you can perfectly describe with one word, and it is 'uplifting'.

The title track puts you into a party mood with the smoothly pumping low end and upbeat melodic guitar loop - and that's really all there is to it, it's very straightforward. But that's ok, since it's so much fun. The 12" mix here is identical to the version you saw on MTV back in the day, it's just longer (thus making the radio edit redundant). The Bob Sinclair remix offers a slightly different and quite pleasing view into the track. I thought you could not possibly create a house track more subtle and deliciously understated than the actual single without turning it into generic ambience, but the remix maintains the delicate balance of groovyness and smooth rhodesy chords that the single introduced - with the guitar loop replaced by an organic trumpet lead. The remix actually sounds like a late-night version of the single that sounds more like an early evening stomper, replacing some of the upbeatness with a more relaxed and moody chord progression.

It's absolutely worth the meager price of £3.50 for which I got my copy for - it's a jewel and a piece of house music history. It only leaves you wishing there was more of it.

TOP TRACKS: Music Sounds Better With You (12" Club Mix)

Tracklist Music Sounds Better With You (Radio Edit) [Sample] Music Sounds Better With You (12" Club Mix) Music Sounds Better With You (Bob Sinclair Remix)

Roulé Music 1998

Get it from Amazon

Review by Saboteur

Back to index