Classified 
Who: Classified
What: De-Classify
Where: Halifax, NS
To Contact: Urbnet Records, (647) 271-7736, .

Halifax rapper Classified's latest album, Boy-Cott-In The Industry (on Urbnet/Outside Music), features cover art of picketers carrying such signs as "What Happened To Hip-Hop?" and "Pop Is Not The Answer." Inside, a bunch of guys are up against the wall. That's likely how most Canadian hip-hop artists feel. It just ain't easy. Not much has changed the past decade. It's been the same names dominating the domestic urban scene, with the odd breakthrough, usually given a leg up by fellow MCs. On what is calculated as Classified's tenth release, the MC, songwriter and producer (real name: Luke Boyd) gets help from Juno-winning Choclair and former Columbia artist Royce 5'9. Also guesting are J-Bru, Spesh K, Jay Bizzy, and Classified's brother, Mic Boyd. The video for "5th Element" received immediate play on MuchMusic. A long time in the hip-hop game, Classified has delivered an exceptional work, self-produced at his own HalfLife Studios. He rhymes about a lot of the usual stuff (the state of hip-hop, crap-hop etc.), but his music has soul, due in part to the addition of live instruments. He played keyboards, and brought in guitarists and bassists, and the cool touch of violin courtesy of Sean Kemp. "It's Just My Opinion", "Listen" and particularly "No Mistake" and "Problemz" are all accessible. This guy should be De-Classified.

Eden Ants
Who: Eden Ants
What: perfect picnic pop
Where: Toronto, ON
To Contact: (416) 428-6958, , www.edenants.com.

Produced by ex-Joydrop member Tom McKay, Eden Ants six-song EP, hole.punch.litter, invade pop territory with some adventure. From the quirky plea of "Moving Out" to the standouts (and potential hits) of killer stomps "Advertisements" and "Some Hope For Us", the band is all-out fun. Comprised of main songwriter and vocalist Adymm Ender; his brother, Rob Ender on guitar; Ryan MacMaster on drums; and Joe False on bass, Eden Ants have been at it since 2000, and with a name like theirs have actually gigged at family picnics, not to mention underground raves and a burlesque events. But they've been hitting the "normal" live circuit too. It was actually at a NXNE barbecue last year that Eden Ants met McKay and gave him a copy of its 2002 EP, Losing. Touch, which reportedly sold out of all 500 units. McKay, whose production credits include Palomino and The Venafro Cafe Orchestra in Glasgow, Scotland, began working with the band in Toronto in December. They cut the six songs at Rob Ender's KingSpin Studios, a residential loft where neighbours weren't too pleased with the "noise," and then McKay then asked his friend, New York-based Mark Plati (David Bowie, The Cure, Prince), to mix it. Call it perfect picnic pop, gay and cool at the same time.

The Brat Attack 
Who: The Brat Attack
What: the future belongs to them
Where: Winnipeg, MB
To Contact: Underground Operations, 5 Cameron St., Toronto, ON M5T 2H1, , www.undergroundoperations.com.

From This Beauty Comes Chaos And Mayhem is the third full-length from this sociopolitical punk act, but the first featuring 17-year-old singer Chanelle Birks. The album kicks off with fierce rolling drums that quite literally build anticipation for the raging anthem "One Solution [Chaos & Mayhem]", not to mention the rest of the CD. Her voice is more prominent on the uncompromising "Call To Action", while "Pro-Life Murders" has a snarky pop feel. Considering this was recorded when producer Mark "London" Spicoluk (of Closet Monster) was deathly ill, the whirlwind session sounds phenomenal. Spicoluk, who owns the label Underground Operations to which The Brat Attack signed, co-produced the tracks with Steve Rizun in their respective basements (U.O. headquarters in Toronto and the "basement of horrors" in Brampton, ON). The band is led by co-vocalist, guitarist and main songwriter Dave Zegareac, himself the founder of 3rd Generation Records, which put out The Brat Attack's first two CDs, 2002's One Revolution Per Minute and 2004's Destruction Sound System. Both had different female singers. Now with Birks joining Zegareac, Jonny Perrin (drums), Billy Bigford (guitar, vocals), and Matt Mayor (bass, vocals), and relentlessly hitting the road, the band will surely eke out a greater underground following - mainstream, if given some breaks. This is a call to action.

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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