“I’ve been listening to this album a lot, and I love it” – STUART MACONIE (BBC 6MUSIC)
“Calipatria feat. NüTrik” is the third single from Lost Midas’ second album, ‘Undefined’. This digital release showcases his signature electrofusion sound, both in its original form and remixed by acclaimed LA-based drummer and producer Te’Amir, whose bass-driven thumper cements the track in the LA beat scene.
Lost Midas is the project of producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jason Trikakis, who is originally from Boston but now rooted in LA – a city which fascinates and frustrates in equal measure, and whose contrasts heavily influence his sound. He developed much of his new material with the help of friend Josh Wood – an in-demand songwriter and arranger whose major collaborations include projects for Janet Jackson, Pitbull and Krewella. Trikakis’ latest work attests to a year-or-so spent rebuilding his musical methods to hone the art of saying more with a lot less, the vital essence of his sound remains: ethereal synths are set into sharp relief by the crisp and inventive beats to be expected of a producer whose discovery of electronic production followed a successful early musical career as a hip hop drummer.
“Calipatria feat. NüTrik” was co-produced by Lost Midas (Jason Trikakis) and his brother NüTrik (Nick Trikakis), who’s burgeoning CV as a producer includes working with Sohn, HARMS, Tula, a remix for Moon Boots [Anjunadeep] that’s quickly gaining steam, tour managing Pete Tong and Idris Elba, and training Flying Lotus, Diplo, Herbie Hancock and Jean Michel Jarre, whilst working as a product specialist for Native Instruments. Opening the track, the beatific notes of NüTrik’s Moog Voyager synth sinuate over blunted drums, to revel in the nexus somewhere between IDM and golden LA-beat making.
The single’s artwork is a photograph of the brothers on a childhood trip to Snake River outside of Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, taken by the Trikakis’ father. Named after a small town, Calipatria has a population around 8,000 and is located just south of the Salton Sea in the Imperial Desert in southern California. Jason Trikakis explains: “It’s an expansive, barren, and post-apocalyptic land that carries with it a distinct contrarian beauty. It’s a peculiar and isolated place, but endlessly fascinating. It amazes me that anyone would choose to live there”.
The remix from LA-based drummer and producer Te’Amir,who between touring and recording with soul singer Aloe Blacc,and playing with musicians from Kamasi Washington, Kadhja Bonet to Kendrick Lamar, was inspired by looking at an aerial image of the city and surrounding farms. “Calipatria was founded by Irish and Irish Mexican soldiers. It's one of the state’s poorest cities, known for its prison, isolated, surrounded by farm lands. It sits 180 feet below sea level, the lowest elevation city in the western hemisphere” Te’Amir explains. He continues: “I wanted the remix to feel like Calipatria, I wanted it to be something you'd hear bumping from the homies whip. I wanted to paint the grids I saw, farms, the prison...The feeling of hard compressed city life met by agriculture and open space.” Incorporating vocal passes from one of his friends in Jamaica, Te’Amir pairs soft, low-end bass with cascading arpeggios and snuffed-out crash symbols for the perfect driving soundtrack.
Lost Midas is the alter ego of Boston born Jason Trikakis, who first established himself as a hip hop drummer throughout his
teens and into his ‘20s.
Mastering a range of instruments along the way (including his current favourite, the keys), he gradually developed an obsession with composition and the endless possibilities within the realm of electronic production....more
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