Cinnamon donuts, babes rocking out, caramel popcorn, ice cream for the taking: There were a shitload of reasons why the NXNE Rdio party at 99 Sudbury was an easy crowd pleaser. Aside from the carnival of sweet offerings, guests got an intimate show from Whale Tooth, The Drums and bopped around to a DJ set by Brendan Canning of Broken Social Scene.

But before I gush about Rdio (oh, I will) let me just say that Elise LeGrow of Whale Tooth is one hot-ass babe. Watching her shake the mic, twist, jump, rawr and slam around was electrifying. With high-waisted denim shorts folded over ripped stockings, scuffed Dr. Martens and a chocolate brown hair whipping across her red lips….I am not ashamed to share that I was momentarily aroused. Guys in the band? Didn’t notice.

Following her wild performance was Brooklyn-based The Drums. Since their breakout in 2010, I’ve been kitchen-dancing to their pop-mod tunes that remind me of Blow Up parties back in the day.   If you like Joy Division, PULP, The Dandy Warhols then you’ll probs dig The Drums. Those are kinda big comparisons but suffice to say that The Drums make for great tunes for summer nights full of endless (dirty) possibilities.

Okay, SO WTF is Rdio??? What do you mean?!! You’re not a member yet? YOUR FRIENDS ARE!! Have you noticed on Facebook how all the cool music geeks are suddenly listening to everything on Rdio? Greg is listening to Beach House. Ali is listening to Hot Chip. Jamie is listening to Of Monsters and Men. It’s the thing to do right now, people! Essentially Rdio is a music listening website. For $4.95/month you get unlimited web streaming or millions of songs on your browser or desktop. It’s a great way to sample new albums, get switched on to new music and thoroughly check stuff out before you purchase. You can also make playlists, read/write reviews and follow along what your friends are liking. I’ve been playing around on it for about a week now and am officially hooked. Try it! First week is free! (Psst: WAY BETTER THAN NETFLIX!)

Yep, it sure was a great party with an even better swag bag. I won’t list out all the contents but will say that I now wash my dirty laundry with berry juice. it’s called Berryplus, and my boyfriend described it best, “It looks like an oversized birth control container full of vitamin viles.” It does! You drip it on your stains. Eco-effective, safe for sensitive skin and allergen/fragrance free. It would be hard to say what I’m more excited about, my growing collection on Rdio or washing my sheets with berries.

P.S: I don’t get paid to rave about this. I just love new music and clean laundry.

~ Jen McNeely

Photos by Becca Lemire (Click to Enlarge)