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.

Adam James Returns to His Roots With Reflective Rocker “Mad ’Bout You”

Sometimes you have to look back in order to go forward, and this is exactly what Adam James has managed to achieve with his latest single ‘Mad ‘Bout You’. Looking to his influences, Adam’s latest track makes sure not to miss out any element along the way, proving that we’re able to draw on the […]

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Naoko Finds Quiet Beauty in the Temporary on “Sea of Light”

Some songs ask for your attention; others achieve it by politely declining to scream into the aether. Naoko Hiranuma’s new “Sea of Light” firmly belongs in the second half. Between its sparse folk structure and airy dream-pop layers to the candid vocal performance, this is a track unfolding at the patient pace of a person

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Piper Connolly Has Created Something Quite Honest and Substantial on “body bag”

Despite the brilliantly melodramatic title, Piper Connolly‘s latest single “body bag”, which sounds like the title for either a horror soundtrack or early-2000s emo compilation album has nothing at all to do with the actual idea of death. The idea that “nobody can do what we all see as justice”, in this song about people

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Michellar’s “Can’t Get You Out of My Mind” Seems Utterly Happy to Remain Where It’s Gotten Itself To

Some songs are about after you’ve made the wrong decision. Some songs are about while you’re making the wrong decision. “Can’t get you out of my mind” by Michellar falls clearly into the latter category. “Can’t get you out of my mind” isn’t a song about healthy emotional boundaries. It isn’t a song about moving

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Laji George’s ‘This Is My World’ Finds Strength In The Storm

After years fronting the alt-rock outfit Pseutopia, New York City’s Laji George moves to center stage on ‘This Is My World’, his debut solo single, opting for sincerity over flash. Released on July 2, the track is both a declaration of purpose and a personal introduction from a singer ready to embrace vulnerability. With elements

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CAR287’s “Muddy Waters” Successfully Navigates the Tightrope Between History Lesson and Rock Anthem

It’s no easy task to capture disaster in a song. If you focus too heavily on the sorrow, the result can feel like a musical interpretation of a heritage Minute with distorted guitars; on the other hand, if you swing too far into arena-rock-hero mode, you can find yourself creating something that oddly feels victorious

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Take Back The Sun’s “Modern Treason” Proves Protest Rock Doesn’t Need to Pretend It Has All the Answers

Political rock spent fifty years of its 20th century in the delusion that bellowing more loudly was the same as saying more. Some band or another would emerge every decade, claim society was falling apart, discover a distortion pedal and then churn out something more suited to a school council election than any real kind

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Magumbo’s We Belong Together Cover Works Out of Sheer Glorious Camp

Some cover songs take a classic song for a politely restrained reinterpretation. They’ll adjust the chords slightly, or maybe swap an acoustic for a piano. They’ll slow things down by 10 BPM and assume that’s job done. Others seem to take the approach that is marked “Crazy ideas”. Magumbo’s “cover” of Mariah Carey’s “We Belong

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