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Get Wasted!

There are three official nights left of the only local music fest that matters. Here are our picks.

Alex Hudson 3 Jun 2010TheTyee.ca

Alex Hudson writes for various music publications and runs a blog called Chipped Hip.

The independent music industry is a fickle thing: there's never enough money to go around, so trends tend to be short-lived and bands come and go. Vancouver's Music Waste, however, is now in its sixteenth year -- a lifetime by most industry standards.

Focusing on local underground music rather than well-known touring acts, the festival has managed to survive by building a community that's devoted to the community rather than profit. Between June 2-5, the festival will bring nearly 100 local acts to venues on Vancouver's east side. With dozens of shows taking place over the four days, festival passes were staggeringly cheap -- just $15. Unsurprisingly, the passes are already sold out (don't worry, you can still get into any of the shows by paying admission at the door).

As a testament to its community-based approach, this year's festival again includes an initiative called Go Your Own Waste. This allows bands not already taking part to book shows of their own during the festival and have them included in the Music Waste program.

With so much going on in such a short time period, it's easy to get overwhelmed by choice. To help you plan your Music Waste experience, here are five of the most noteworthy shows taking place over the next three days of the festival.

Thursday, June 3 @ Princeton Pub (1901 Powell Street)

For lovers of all things tender and beautiful, this is a can't miss. It brings the folksy Abramson Singers together with the heavier-but-no-less-pretty Moonshiner (a side project featuring two members of the Blue Violets). The evening is opened by the Magician & the Gates of Love, a '60s-loving piano pop outfit from Abbotsford. (Jazz pop songstress Jody Glenham was slated to headline the evening, but her MySpace now says that she won't be performing -- still, that’s no reason not to listen) .

Friday, June 4 @ Brandiz Hotel (122 E. Hastings)

Straight out of the garage and into the hotel bar, B-Lines, the Shilohs and Slam Dunk all like their melodies catchy, their guitars noisy, and their rhythms fast and sloppy. If you passed on seeing the Buzzcocks at Venue this past week, here's your chance to make up for it.

Friday, June 4 @ Goody

Makeout Videotape is a fuzzy, pop-friendly duo that recently signed to local boutique label Unfamiliar Records. Sound familiar? Don't be surprised if, by this time next year, this band is way too big to be playing at 2AM in some venue that you've never heard of. Also on the bill are the like-minded Needles//Pins and the electro rocking Koban.

Saturday, June 5 @ Funky Winker Bean's (35 W.Hastings)

Kellarissa and fanshaw have a lot in common: these local darlings have sung together in the Choir Practice (Kellarissa was also in p:ano), and both now have sleepy, minimalist keyboard pop projects signed to Mint Records. The equally soporific Sleep Holiday will open up, along with the hilariously mismatched noise rock outfit Shipyards.

Sunday, June 6 @ Grandview Lanes Bowling Centre (2195 Commercial Drive) -- Bowl Your Own Waste

Apollo Ghosts are the most fun live act in Vancouver, bringing together jangle pop bliss, freewheeling punk energy, and frontman Adrian Teacher's wild-eyed, crowd-surfing antics. Sugar-spiked circus pop collective Role Mach opens. With two such joyous bands, it makes perfect sense that that they would be playing the festival-ending bowling party.  [Tyee]

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