House / Tech House / Electronic
TOYMASTER TAKES HIS LEGACY FROM SATURDAY MORNING TO SATURDAY NIGHT
With Alan Braxe’s 1998 stratospheric dance crossover hit, “Music Sounds Better With You,” (co-written by with no less than Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter), European chain retailers flew couriers to fight for pressings at the dock of the delivering French ferry. In an unprecedented bidding war, major labels raised the ante over rights to the single seemingly without end.
We take this track for granted now, its popular appreciation perhaps decaying the fickle street credibility of Braxe and Bangalter’s work. But, for a moment, shed your jaded pose and remember the way you felt the first time you heard “Music Sounds Better With You.” You cannot argue against its rightful inclusion amongst the true monoliths of underground dance music.
Considering that, you must ask yourself what it means when an legend of that magnitude decides to work with a freshman electro artist like Chicago’s DJ Toymaster. What does Mr. Braxe know that we don’t?
Toymaster, AKA Max Chimbel, comes by the moniker honestly enough; his immediate family includes two generations of the visionaries who brought Star Wars, Hot Wheels, Transformers, Care Bears and shelves full of classic toys to the world. But with a chance introduction to dance music, it seemed that the family business was not in his future. So Toymaster made the decision to take his legacy from Saturday morning into Saturday night.
Working in the heart of Chicago house music with Vince Lawrence and other pioneers, the resulting debut single, “Hips, Lips and Finger Tips,” was strong enough to earn the attention of Braxe, who contributed a rare remix. The impending full length LP also features collaborations between Max and Chicago juke sensations, Dude N Nem of “Watch My Feet” fame, the song that inspired over a million plays on Youtube and a worldwide dance contest. Other contributors to the album include electro rockers The Assassins, Harrison Crump, The Greenskeepers, and Lady D. Production on the album is near completion. Afterwards , Toymaster will tour globally in support of his work
DJToyMaster