Ian Ureta

A tenured media critic known working as a ghost writer, freelance critic for publications in the US and former lead writer of Atop The Treehouse. Reviews music, film and TV shows for media aggregators.

The Broken Paradigm Is Less an Album You Casually Listen to and More One You Get Pulled Into, Whether You Planned to or Not

Some albums ease you in with a nice, polite intro, like they’re knocking on the door and waiting to be let in. The Broken Paradigm by Razed by Rebels does not do that. It kicks the door off its hinges, tracks mud all over the carpet, and immediately starts ranting about the state of the […]

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“Drowning” Feels Like a Continuation of Michelle Rose’s Artistic Voice

There’s a certain kind of pop song that says it’s vulnerable, and then there’s the kind that actually feels like it has something at stake. “Drowning,” the latest single from Michelle Rose, leans firmly into the latter. It’s not just built on emotional storytelling for effect; it’s rooted in lived experience, specifically the aftermath of

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Wild River Is Built for Ecstatic Dance Floors, Conscious Festivals and Late-Night Club Systems Alike

There was a very specific moment in the early ’90s when producers collectively decided that the solution to any musical idea was, simply, to put a house beat under it. Didn’t matter what “it” was. Folk song? Add a four-on-the-floor. Eurodance hook? Obviously. Traditional tune your uncle plays at weddings? Give it a kick drum

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“Snake Charmer” Is a Track That Feels Reflective, Slightly Surreal and Quietly Haunting

Some songs about addiction approach the topic like a documentary: clear narrative, grim realism, moral lesson at the end. Others treat it more like a hallucination; something slippery, strange, and emotionally disorienting. “Snake Charmer,” the latest track from Moon Construction Kit, falls very firmly into the second category. Moon Construction Kit is the solo project

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For Listeners Who Enjoy Dense Lyricism and Cinematic Beats, Infamous Wizzardy 2 Delivers Exactly What It Promises

Hip-hop sequels are a risky move. Not in the dramatic, “the entire genre hangs in the balance” sense, but in the quieter, more familiar way that sequels in general tend to be risky. For every follow-up that expands the world and sharpens the idea, there’s another that mostly exists because the first one did reasonably

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Space Heartbreak Is Confidently, Unironically and Cosmically Romantic

There’s a very specific kind of confidence required to call your debut project Space Heartbreak. Not just “Heartbreak.” Not just “Late Night Feelings.” No. We’re going to space. We are leaving the planet. The emotional damage will be intergalactic. And honestly? Fair enough as Space Heartbreak doesn’t rely on big, dramatic sci-fi theatrics or overblown

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Stylus Feels Like What Happens When Someone Who Genuinely Loves Rock Music Keeps Showing Up to Do the Work

There’s something deeply funny about calling your album Stylus in 2026. In an era where most people experience music as an invisible algorithmic vapor piped directly into their ears by a Swedish tech company, Dave Lebental has named his second solo LP after the tiny physical needle that drags through vinyl grooves. It’s like naming

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Spitting the Tea: A Beautiful Horror Is Ultimately About the Mind Under Stress

There’s a particular kind of brain spiral that happens at 2:17 a.m. You’re replaying a conversation from 2019, planning your five-year trajectory, imagining your enemies thriving out of spite, and somehow also convinced a minor typo will end your career. It’s not quite anxiety, not quite ambition. It’s more like your mind has decided to

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Black Astronaut Records Hasn’t Just Delivered a Technically Polished Release on ai12DIE; They’ve Staged a Thought Experiment With Hooks

There are two ways to approach a project like ai12DIE. One is to roll your eyes and say, “Oh good, the robots are rapping now.” The other is to lean in and ask, “Okay, but what if the robot has feelings about it?” Black Astronaut Records, under Charles Luck, very decisively chooses option two and

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