Plant is better with strange music (8)
I believe the answer is:
capsicum
'plant' is the definition.
(I know that capsicum is a type of shrub)
'better with strange music' is the wordplay.
'better' becomes 'cap' (both can mean to beat somebody else's attempt).
'with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'strange' indicates anagramming the letters.
'music' anagrammed gives 'sicum'.
'cap'+'sicum'='CAPSICUM'
'is' is the link.
(Other definitions for capsicum that I've seen before include "Pepper plant" , "Pepper fruit" , "Chili pepper genus" , "Tropical plant producing peppers -- music cap (anag)" , "hot stuff perhaps" .)