This is Staff Picks, a monthly round-up of what staff at The Capital City Weekly and Juneau Empire are reading, watching and listening to.
Every month we’ll recommend our favorite music, movies, TV shows, podcasts and books.
These are our February picks.
What we’re watching
Mollie Barnes, reporter, “You” on Netflix: Safe to say after watching this stalking tale, I get freaked out anytime there’s a noise in the house. This show somehow managed to make Penn Badgley not hot to me, which was a hard feat to accomplish. Team Peach Salinger forever.
Angelo Saggiomo, digital content editor, “Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes” (Netflix Series): This one is not for the faint of heart. This four-episode docuseries on Netflix draws from 100 hours of taped interviews that two journalists conducted while Bundy was on death row. It also features interviews with the serial killer’s mother, ex-wife, longtime girlfriend and a woman who escaped from Bundy — a particularly harrowing account. Netflix warned viewers not to watch the series alone, and I have to agree. I binged it in one evening and can’t say I had a good night’s sleep.
Alex McCarthy, reporter, “True Detective” (HBO series): Mahershala Ali has delivered a gripping performance through five episodes, playing the same character in three different phases of life. The elderly version of the character is particularly fascinating, as he balances the desire to solve a case with the awareness that dementia is slowly creeping up on him.
What we’re reading
Mollie Barnes, reporter, “The Revolution of Marina M” by Janet Fitch (Fiction): I’m not quite finished with it, seeing as it’s 1,000 pages, and I have to put it down every so often when it gets too real, but it’s interesting to read as someone who wasn’t alive during the Russian Revolution. I tend to get bogged down in reading straight history, so historical fiction is a good way to learn about an era with a little extra spice.
What we’re listening to
Ben Hohenstatt, arts and culture reporter, Mike Krol, “Power Chords” (Album): January was sort of a lean month for music, but I was smitten by this album. The latest offering from Mike Krol, a Mid-Fi Los Angeles garage rocker, is aptly titled. It’s a fuzzed out, fizzy collection of power pop earworms. Recommended for fans of Ty Segall, “King of the Beach”-era Wavves and bands of their ilk.
Mollie Barnes, reporter, The Him, “Nothing on Us” (Song): This song’s been pumping me through my winter workouts.
Alex McCarthy, reporter, Maggie Rogers, “Heard It In A Past Life” (Album): You heard her a couple years ago when “Alaska” became a hit, and you might have even seen her intimate acoustic performance at University of Alaska Southeast last winter. Now her first major album release is here, and it doesn’t disappoint. The songs are almost all upbeat, and Rogers has an incredible gift for melody. Her choruses are anthemic, and some seem to appear out of thin air. It’s an exhilarating listen.
• Contact arts and culture reporter Ben Hohenstatt at (907)523-2243 or bhohenstatt@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter @BenHohenstatt.
Mike Krol’s new album “Power Chords” released on Jan. 25, 2019, is a buzzy, Mid-Fi collection of power pop ear worms. (Courtesy Photo | Merge Records)
