Eternia 
Who: Eternia
What: ms. master flow
Where: Toronto
To Contact: Urbnet, PO Box 10617, 998 Bloor St. W., Toronto ON, M6H 1L8 (647) 271-7736, , www.eternia.ca.

It's odd that no homegrown female emcee has broken through in Canada since Michie Mee two decades ago; some have tried, but name one rapper, not R&B singer. Toronto's Eternia has a shot. For years, she sharpened her skills and served up singles in Canada, the US and Australia, which were released with assorted drops and collabs on Where I Been - The Collection, but this is her first proper full-length, It's Called Life. And it's called great. From "Evidence", with its Beach Boys nod, the tough MC tells it like it is, who she is, through to "Family" (feat. Helixx C. & DJ Dopey), a menacing dark cut about growing up in government housing, spawned by a devil and raised by a saint, she rhymes. On these tracks, Eternia's ability to tell a story without downplaying or prettying up is as refreshing as Eminem was when he first emerged. The album was recorded by Rez at ECTO.1 for Toronto's 3Bone Audio Inc. with various producers - DJ Mercilless; Rude; Simahlak; Collizhun; Kenny Neal Jr.; and Tone Mason Inc. - and mixed by George Seara and assisted by Greg "Wondabread" Kolchinsky at Toronto's Phase One Studios, except for "Understand" which was by Tao at Da Bus Stop in Brooklyn, NY.

Art Of Dying
Who: Art Of Dying
What: death becomes you
Where: Vancouver
To Contact: www.artofdyingmusic.com.

Another rock band based in Vancouver that is making things happen. With out a major record label behind it, the winner of CFOX's 2005 Seeds local band competition has since scored representation from LA-based booking agency The Agency Group, and prime opening slots recently for Taproot in Sarasota, FL, and Staindt, My Chemical Romance and Our Lady Peace in West Palm Beach. The still unreleased, unmastered, self-titled album is filled with potential single after single, just straight up hard rock with hooks - and without annoying histrionics. "Get Through This", available on iTunes, debuted at #48 on America's R&R's active rock chart and has about two dozen stations on the track. Guitarist Greg Bradley and bassist David Mariacci, both from Calgary, tried Toronto for a year or so before bouncing to the west coast and meeting another Albertan, vocalist Jonathan Hetherington, and making an album called Inverse. They meet producer Darryl Romphf, who cut his teeth with pros like GGGarth and Jack Richardson, and drummer Flavio Cirillo joins the fold. Together, they record this new offering at several BC studios - Warehouse Studios, Greenhouse Studios and Magma. It was engineered by Alex 'Condor' Aligizakis, Romphf, and Kirk McMally; and mixed locally by Juno-nominated engineer Dean Maher at Warehouse and Hipposonic Studios with assistance by Mike Cashin and Amy Worobec.

Shout Out Out Out Out 
Who: Shout Out Out Out Out
What: call call call
Where: Edmonton
To Contact: Nrmls Wlcm Records, 10027 - 80th Ave., Edmonton, AB T6E 1T4 (780) 993-6457, .

These three pulsating indie disco-tech songs are all these boys have to shout about right now. Conceived in May of 2004, Shout Out Out Out Out - Nik Kozub (bassist for Veal and Shout Out x4 producer), Clint Frazier, Jason Troock, Will Zimmerman, Lyle Bell and Gravy (the latter two of rockers Whitey Houston) - was in the studio in December laying down its full-length album, due in the spring. Another single should be out in the meantime. Utilizing two drummers, four bass players, two samplers, five synthesizers and one vocoder, this first CD single presents alternate versions of "NOBODYCALLSMEUNLESSTHEYWANTSOMETHING". The first is bass-y and hypnotic; the other, a remix by Mocky, a Canadian ex-pat living in Berlin, has a little more kick in places. The third is the blip-clash groove of "TIIIIRED". All have cartoon-like robot vocals. The tracks were produced, engineered, and mixed by Kozub for Nrmls Wlcm, the blanket name he uses for his production/recording, club night, poster design - and record company, which is run with Troock.

Credit: Toronto-based music journalist Karen Bliss is the Canadian news correspondent for Rollingstone.com, and operates a Canadian music industry news column, Lowdown, at http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Lowdown. She also edits Gasoline, and contributes to Elle Canada, Audience, Tribute, Words & Music and others.

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