Sunburst KL

We've been looking forward to March for a long time and one of the main reasons is Sunburst KL International Music Festival 2009 in Malaysia. This month, Junk is packed with plenty of goodness as usual, including our festival guide to Sunburst KL!

Features
We've got a smorgasbord of interesting features for you guys. First up is a sneak peek into one of Malaysia's most promising outdoor music festivals–check Junk’s guide to Sunburst on page 46 for the festival lowdown. Further celebrating the inextricable link between music and festivals, we ask five bands from South East Asia to name their favourite music destination (The Big Chill, page 52). We also round up ten new music capitals of the world and show you what’s coming out of the speakers from each metropolis (From Bandung To Bamako, page 38). Then we get Buzzed with Astroninja (page 35), a quirky four-piece band from Singapore who thinks "Ninjas are like Asian versions of Super Mario"!

Open Mic
We interview Junk's three Lo-fideo contenders before the voting results are revealed, stop by Singaporean post-rock trio Lunar Node's EP launch and get to know Malaysia's first-ever all-girl metal band Vermillion from Kuala Lumpur.

Reviews
We party hard at LAMC's Big Night Out concert series at Fort Canning Park, Singapore featuring The Ting Tings and The Prodigy. Malaysian band, Butterfingers bid their last goodbyes to fans in four sold-out weekend shows. Canada's Stars shimmer in Singapore while Mogwai lets the music do the talking in Kuala Lumpur. We also review albums by Joe Flizzow, White Lies, James Zabiela, Sleepyjeremy, The Dorques, Judge Jules and plenty more.

Junk Music Compilation
Every month, we keep getting new MP3s, fuzzy demos and eager pleas to pimp random music from parts of Asia. And thanks to our great friends at Popfolio, we can. This month, check out new music made by bands from the five regional countries that have always been on our radar–Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines. Enjoys!

Freebies
"Free" is a wonderful word and we've got some cool things coming out of the wazoo including tickets and meet and greet opportunities for Sunburst KL, tickets and limited edition merchandise for the movie Watchmen, CDs by The Fray and Joe Flizzow, and autographed The Rock and  Sheila On 7 CDs. Write to us at editor@junkonline.net and stand a chance to win a Lacoste sports bag worth RM639!