JUNO
A Future Lived in Past Tense
(DeSoto)
***

I stand corrected. Local introspective rocker group Juno can no longer be categorized as (the horror!) an emo band, and with A Future Lived in Past Tense the four-piece should move to the front burner of Seattle's impressive, recently revived music scene rather than steam quietly in the background as it has for nearly its entire five-plus years of existence. Given Juno's disdain for the limelight--as lyrics like, "Put on your punk belt and rock out for all the square cools" ("Covered with Hair") display--as well as its frontman Arlie Carstens' dedication to inhabiting the fringe of the region's hip existence, it's unlikely that the members of Juno will become key players. But given this latest album's determined beauty and aboveboard song structures in the vein of both Radiohead and Pink Floyd, fans of harder-edged melodies and impassioned songwriting should definitely seek it out. However, its inclusion of meandering spoken-word material may compel some fans to experience the new songs in the live, less permissive club setting. KATHLEEN WILSON


TAKAKO MINEKAWA
Maxi-On
Emperor Norton Records
***1/2

No society has a greater and more complex appreciation of cuteness than the Japanese. There, sounds, foods, odors, and hues of various colors all have specific varying cuteness values, properly codified by specialists, often young girls, according to an obscure and impenetrable set of distinct criteria. Indeed, unlike our society, which sees cuteness as an essentially silly trait, the Japanese treat cuteness with an almost morbid earnestness. Takako Minekawa's music is not cute in and of itself, but its connection to cuteness is undeniable: breathy, deeply buried vocals; soothing, coy melodies; and a perverse abundance of bells, whistles, and cascading crystalline chimes. Her instrumentation could have been lifted from a Pokémon video, but what she does with it is frankly stunning. Minekawa takes her sounds and sequesters them someplace far away, layering on longing and inquiry and blurriness, conjuring up a deep nostalgia for a place that may not exist. In fact, the only problem with this disc is that the first four songs, which are great, are completely overwhelmed by the last three songs, which are sacred. From the strange tinkling that begins "Picnic at Loose Rock," through the looping purrs and dots and whispers of "Follow My Dreams," to the eternal throb of "Sleeping Bag," the disc delivers 10 minutes of such transcendental grandeur that you will be forgiven for shedding tears. Water drips, honks, dial tones, and plastic-toy squeals, toy pianos and heartbeats and horns all swirl around, soothing and energizing and, I daresay, healing. It is 10 minutes in the clouds, with the mournful wail of seagulls bringing you back at the end. JAMIE HOOK


POKÉMON 3: ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK
Koch Records
**

This record is annoying, yes, but it also fills so desperate a niche that one must accord it some respect, for Pokémon 3 is that rare bird, an epic rock opera. Indeed, this CD is so powerful in its vision of another world, corrupt with political and social strife, fraught with emotion and rich with melodrama, that as one listens one almost sees the Pokémons flying nimbly all about, fighting evil and restoring good to the crystal world. "You can help me win in this fight/because we need to face the challenge that's ahead/Pikachu!/You know there is no other," Elan Rivera sings movingly on "Pikachu (I Choose You)," her ambition clear and stirring. Later, broken, she sings, "Just go off in your own direction/and see if anybody cares/just don't come running back to me, Ash Ketchum!" ("He Drives Me Crazy"), her voice cracking like chapped lips. Of course, the best song on this record is "Pokérap GS." Sample lyric: "Hitmontop, Marill, Umberon, Bayleaf/Houndoom, Octillery, Wooper, Mareep." Now, that's an aria. JAMIE HOOK


RUFUS WAINWRIGHT
Poses
(Dreamworks)
***

Rufus Wainwright is flagrantly, unrepentantly fey: prone to rapture and musical swooning, melancholy and earnest yearning, all expressed through ridiculously baroque pop songs. In the abstract, I'd expect to hate his music, which constantly threatens to wallow in pretentious foppishness. But his first album was so damn pretty, I surrendered. His second, Poses, is flat-out gorgeous. It opens with "Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk," a song about succumbing to bad habits, which, like many of Wainwright's songs, is both silly and sublime. Currently, what has me most entranced is the one-two punch of two back-to-back aching love songs, "Rebel Prince" and "The Consort"--the first a jaunty croon, the second an impossibly lush ballad. Wainwright's voice manages to be both nasal and sweet, aloof and vulnerable, ironic and intimate. Whether you've just fallen in love or just fallen out of it, Poses will suit your mood. BRET FETZER


MOGWAI
Rock Action
(Matador)
*** 1/2

As intense and exhilarating as soft-then-loud dynamics can be for the listener, eventually bands that faithfully employ this provocative formula run the risk of becoming boring to all but their most hard-headed fans. Thankfully, Mogwai isn't out to bore anyone, a fact proven by the constant roll and tumble of the band's second Matador full-length, Rock Action. Where the Glasgow band's Come on Die Young hooked listeners with its cat-and-mouse game of epic, addicting sonic proportion, Rock Action finds the Scots in a far more subtle, audibly confident posture, notable from the symphony-infused second track, "Take Me Somewhere Nice," clear through to the more recognizably hypnotic "You Don't Know Jesus" and finally with the ravishing "2 Rights Make 1 Wrong," a standout that simmers with brass, keyboards, woodwinds, and manipulated voices. Maturity and longevity are the buzzwords this time around, proving that Mogwai encompasses more than ample creative endurance, making for an engaging, lifelong affair. KATHLEEN WILSON