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Best Record Label

Financial Ruin Records

Not long ago, South Florida had a relatively thriving community of small, independent labels, mostly run by kids who released singles and their friends' CDs out of their bedrooms. Some of these eventually grew (see: Fiddler Records), but most just fizzled out. For years, the true upstart indie label was a labor of love, centered around a core of musicians who mostly know each other, and usually focused on cool packaging and artwork. With the advent of MySpace, streaming audio, iTunes, CD Baby, and zShare, these have mostly gone the way of the dodo. So new Miami upstart Financial Ruin Records is a refreshing blast of willful anachronism. Not only is label head Dan going back to the old punk label model, but also he's returning to that era's media — not just vinyl, but cassette tapes too. Of course, vinyl sounds better — it's warmer, etc. Tapes wear out, get tangled, and melt. Still, the stubbornness is endearing, and the releases show real work — limited-edition artwork and numbered packaging, for the most part. The music runs toward obscure punk and hardcore variants, catching some of the rawest underground sounds from Miami and beyond.

Best Liquor-Fueled History

Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba

Living in Miami, it's all too easy to feel like you already know everything there is to know about Cuba. Why on Earth, you're already saying to yourself, would I read another sentence about the island's past? We'll tell you why: Because Tom Gjelten, a veteran NPR correspondent, decided to tell the history of Cuba through rum. Turns out it's a history as refreshing and delicious as the best mojito ever mixed in La Habana. Who knew that a Bacardi was the first Cuban mayor of Santiago? Or that one of the company's chairmen traveled to Washington with Fidel Castro in the 1950s? Or that the company patriarch bought his own B-26 bomber after the Bay of Pigs and planned to personally firebomb Cuba's oil refineries? Stir up a nice nightcap, pour a little Coke into that rum, and learn something new about the Magic City and its favorite island to the south.

Best Of Miami®

Best Of Miami®

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