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.

At Its Best, Carpe Diem’s Dream Odyssey Transports You to a Great Big Adventure

Album Review, International, New Music

Here’s the thing about albums called Dream Odyssey: you expect them to be either unbearably pretentious concept records with hour-long synth drones and a booklet of poetry stapled to the sleeve, or a perfectly fine indie project about “journeys” and “growth” where the word odyssey is doing some fairly heavy lifting. Carpe Diem, a duo […]

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“Liberal Anthem” Is a Prog-Rock Sermon That Says, Quite Plainly, the World Could Be Better, and We Should Probably Do Something About That

International, New Music, Track Review

The thing about songs with titles like “Liberal Anthem” is that you expect them to be bad, or at least unbearably smug, the sort of thing a think-tank would use in a promo video where some smiling intern types “equity” into a whiteboard and everyone claps politely. And yet, against all odds, Polish duo Transgalactica

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At Its Core, Sehore’s Husfikbur Is a Continuation of a Project Designed to Stir Conscience

Album Review, International, New Music

When Mdou Moctar released Afrique Victime in 2021, the critical response was pretty unanimous: this was a landmark. Not just in the nebulous “best of the year” sense, but in the way you talk about a record that feels both timeless and urgent. It was a guitar album that sounded like it could summon a

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Obscentra Is a Storm in Neon Lighting, and Alessiah Controls It With Unnerving Precision

Album Review, International, New Music

Most people celebrate their eighteenth birthday with cake, bad photos, and maybe one of those “haha, I’m legal now” jokes that’s only funny if you’re drunk. Alessiah, on the other hand, decided to release Obscentra, her debut album. Because why settle for a party when you can drop a meticulously crafted, emotionally destructive pop record

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American Grim’s “Secrets of Roswell” Is Paranoia Made Audible

International, New Music, Track Review

Here’s the thing about conspiracy theories: they’re never really about aliens, or lizards, or whatever cryptid you’ve decided stole your uncle’s cows. They’re about trust. Or, more accurately, the lack of it. American Grim’s “Secrets of Roswell” understands this. Sure, it throws the word “Roswell” around and sprinkles in your classic UFO jargon but it’s

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Anna Dahl’s Little Bit Country Is a Glittery-Boot-Kick Away From the Regular

EP Review, International, New Music

If you Spotify, click on whatever playlist is curated by a man in a Nashville office who probably has the word “synergy” written on his whiteboard, you’ll likely be assaulted by a wave of bright voices, stadium-ready choruses, and lyrics about tailgates that sound suspiciously like they were assembled by AI. It’s a genre where

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On Welcome Home by JaySol, We Get Something Closer to a Cosmic Trap Mixtape Stitched Together With Indie-Rap DIY Grit

Album Review, International, New Music

Hip-hop, as a genre, is obsessed with beginnings. The block you grew up on. The first demo you cut in someone’s basement where the mic is literally duct-taped to a broom handle. The debut album that says, “Here I am, please take me seriously.” It’s a ritual. Which is why Welcome Home by JaySol, straight

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Brendan Pegg’s New Single In the Dark Magnetizes Attention by Quietly Dimming the Lights Until You Can’t Help but Lean Closer

International, New Music, Track Review

Brendan Pegg’s new single In the Dark magnetizes attention by quietly dimming the lights until you can’t help but lean closer. The Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter has been carving out a sound that sits between indie folk intimacy and atmospheric pop expansiveness, and this track feels like the most refined version of that balance so far.

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WYCH HAZLE Built an Altar on Death of R\&B Mixtape 2: Changeling and Every Track Is an Offering

Album Review, International, New Music

There are projects that play by the rules, slotting neatly into genres and playlists, and then there are projects like THE DEATH OF R&B MIXTAPE 2: CHANGELING. WYCH HAZLE isn’t just releasing music here; he’s staging an exorcism. This is R&B stripped of its silky polish, set on fire, and reassembled as something jagged, haunted,

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