Bfm :: A Sunday Kinda Love

This week, we venture into the world of vikings and dragons. Rio Yamase tells us about the hardanger fiddle, a Norwegian traditional musical instrument which is beautiful both in appearance and in the lively sounds that it produces. Then we catch up with Sasha Saidin and Prem Shanker, who lent their voices to the Malay-dubbed version of How To Train Your Dragon 2 that’s due to bring smiles this upcoming Raya.

This week, we explore Trap music, and its many spinoff genres, in particular the more mellow Chill Trap genre, which some have even nicknamed Love Trap, Happy Trap and Melodic Trap due the fact that it's more easy on the ears. For fans of chillout and electronica, Chill Trap offers the flexibility of cranking up the volume for a full-on jam, or a more relaxed aural experience with headphones. 

Our once-monthly beauty episode is now official, dedicated to all beauty buffs -  with beauty experiences,  product recommendations and reviews, and how-tos suggested by experts in the industry. With summer approaching we look at getting great skin in order to wear less make-up -  with a beauty adventure at La Mer and a Secret to Perfect Skin tutorial with Bobbi Brown, layering your sunblock for the best coverage, investigating melt-proof eye make-up in nude and natural-looking shades,  and where to find a pop of colour to gear up for the Eid open house season. For a list of products reviewed email us at sundaykindalove@bfm.my.

We catch up with fast-rising Malaysian filmmaker Abhilash Chandra to discuss his fascination for and philosophies in making movies, his greatest influences and creative processes, including a sneak peek into his latest project, Cargo.

We go through the summer movie releases to separate the blockbusters from the gems across the many genres and hopefully  find a few pearls in the oystershell. 

It's a furious season for music related shows and we hear from some of the most exciting acts playing next weekend. We also explore the art of Epomania, the passion for creating all things epic, with award-winning composer and music director, Onn San, and his collaborators - songstress Ida Mariana and guitar maestro Az Samad - with sneak previews from the upcoming album Epomania 2: Time and Space.

This week we explore Kekasih, the short film directed by Malaysian filmmaker Diffan Sina Norman, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival last year and the roots of the metaphor used in the film of the flower and the bird.

Michael Veerapen, one of Malaysia's foremost jazz musicians/musical directors schools us on the fine art of jazz appreciation, describing the nature of the genre, its roots, multiple branches, how it's progressed over the years, and tells us about his passion project - A Tribute to Billie Holiday, in commemoration of her 100th birthday.

Addiction is a strange monster. Whether it is a substance, an activity or an emotion- the addictive nature of humans have been captured in colourful display through books, film and music. This week we live 'dangerously' and observe the damage from afar.

We're off again to a desert island taking with us the mega-songstress, Elvira Arul and her favourite books, films and music, who reads to us from her favourite book, tells us about the movies and music that have shaped her self and shares rare behind-the-scenes recordings of her music. 

We look at some of the films released around the world this May Day weekend to take stock of and look forward to in the coming months including stories about a centenarian, a nonagenerian, and a forty-two year old horror flick.

Filem-Filem Underground was an independent short film showcase leading up to Festival Filem Malaysia showcasing 9 shorts by independent Malaysian filmmakers. We hear from the curator and filmmakers to see what the issues are - from censorship to the survival of Malaysian films with honest, thought-provoking content. We also highlight some of the films shown at Filem-Filem Underground.

We take folks back to the musical landscape of the 50's and 60's featuring  musicians from the 2000's with that retro soul, rock and roll, blues and folk sound.

We take a trip this week with Sean Ghazi - catching up on his experiences in the US, auditioning for The X Factor, appearing on Jay Leno and performing at the Hollywood Bowl - and go back to his student days - queuing at the crack of dawn for auditions in London, living on Snicker bars, winning roles in several West End musicals, and landing a role in Anna and the King; Sean outlines the pain and the glories of a career in the West End, in films and in music.  NB: Contains audio clips of the German productions of Miss Saigon and Rent, as well as the 2005 movie version of Rent, not performed by Sean.

From performing in musicals to conducting healing workshops and writing poetry, the multi-talented Stephanie Van Driesen has been busy. We get inspired as she reads and sings to us, inspiring us with stories of her creative processes and messages of the earth.

This week we jetset to a desert island to get away from it all and entrust the entertainment to Bihzhu, who shares her favourite books, films and music with us. Bihzhu reads poetry and sings to us as we get to know her better and discover  elements that have influenced her art.

We pay homage to World Poetry Day this week with a lineup of readings featuring original poetry, and some well-loved favourites, read by passionate Malaysians (and one Mat Salleh).

 DJ Lawrence Graham shares some highlights from his prized vinyl collection and spins us some of his favourite tracks with genres ranging from funk to chillout electronica, to the danceable but unnameable, and throws in a custom Sunday mix or two, including an unofficial re-mix of Bruno Mars' Just The Way You Are.

With celebrations still ongoing for the lunar new year, we bring you some Chinese New Year storytelling to mark the year of the [insert preferred horned animal name here].

We continue with the spectacular adventures of Sweet Potato aka Gamju, a Welsh Corgi who's been a Naughty Boy and escapes from home after being chastised by his owner, stumbling upon something quite strange… Many thanks to Foo Sek Han for contributing this wonderful story. [ Part 1 ]