DJ Mix: Lazaro Casanova’s “The Perfect 10 Back to Basics”

Lazaro Casanova: Don’t let the baby face fool you.​Local DJs like Oscar G and Cedric Gervais may get all the glory on a national level, but they better watch out for Lazaro Casanova. The young musician has gone from obscure indie-party DJ to legit techno/house producer. He even paired up…

Casino Bars Rule: Fling, at Isle Casino & Racing

​Night Watch is a regular feature about bars and clubs by nightlife columnist Tara Nieuwesteeg. The Isle Casino & Racing in Pompano is seriously like Disney World for degenerate adults. Seriously, you lose entertainment-and-booze filled hours in a casino and walk out to find it’s already dark (or light, whichever…

A Christmas Drink Recipe, Courtesy of Tryst in Delray

​Night Watch is a regular feature about bars and clubs by nightlife columnist Tara Nieuwesteeg. Tryst4 E. Atlantic Ave, Delray Beach 561-921-0201 The halls of Tryst had been more than significantly decked. The tree in the back patio dining area was full of lights; inside, poles had been wound with…

Cider Flows Freely at the Bull Bar in Delray

​Night Watch is a regular feature about bars and clubs by nightlife columnist Tara Nieuwesteeg. The Bull Bar 2 E. Atlantic Ave.Delray Beach 561-274-8001, thebullbar.comAcross from the Bull Bar was a park with an “ice skating rink” and a giant Christmas tree all decked out in blue, purple, red, and…

The Year’s Top Ten Picks in “Indie Rock” – Whatever That Really Means

Yeah, pal, that’s “indie rock,” scare quotes very much included. Look, it’s a meaningless term. As are “college rock,” “alternative,” “hipster,” etc. Let’s not overthink this. Here we have ten splendid records with an amorphous rock ‘n’ roll designation, albeit in a perhaps slightly more experimental and thoughtful vein than…

Rebel Yells

Yeah, it stirred the Yankees to the World Series championship, but was there a more boring album this year than Jay-Z’s The Blueprint 3? Perhaps it was a geographic thing. With a few exceptions, like Raekwon and Kid Cudi, most of 2009’s exciting, innovative rap records came from Southern artists…

Clubland Confidential

The past year brought the worst economy since the malaise of the ’70s, and like that era, it also saw dance music sweep the nation. Lady Gaga, the Black Eyed Peas, Beyoncé, and Sean “P. Diddy” Combs all dabbled in the sound. Even Michael Jackson, before his untimely death in…

MP3 of the Day: Kid Cudi’s “Day ‘N’ Nite,” Remixed by Parable

Local rapper-producer Parable​Whenever the web seems to have reached its peak of weirdness, the whole thing whirlpools into entirely new dimensions of the bizarre, revealing secret worlds where you can watch celebrity breakdowns streamed live, read first-round NBA draft picks suicide tweets, or even e-shop for shrunken human heads. One…

A Quest for Christmassy Drinks Leads to Dada

​Night Watch is a regular column about bars and clubs by nightlife columnist Tara Nieuwesteeg. Downtown Delray was awash with Christmas lights. They were crawling up tree trunks and stretching across storefront windows; they dangled from awnings and snaked around wreaths at every art gallery, pet salon, clothing boutique, and…

3-for-1 Cocktails at Porterhouse, Fort Lauderdale

​Night Watch is a regular feature about bars and clubs by nightlife columnist Tara Nieuwesteeg. Porterhouse Bar & Grill201 SW 2nd Street, Fort Lauderdale 954-522-1253 There are very few locations on Himmarshee Street acceptable to bring a date that you still have to impress (i.e., haven’t yet slept with). But…

Trina: Fancy Drinks for Fancy People

​Night Watch is a regular feature about bars and clubs by nightlife columnist Tara Nieuwesteeg.Trina Restaurant and Lounge 601 N Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd., Fort Lauderdale 954-567-8070; trinarestaurantandlounge.comTrina, the Atlantic Hotel’s classy oceanfront bar, is decorated with abstract art, dark wood furniture, small round tables, retro-chrome chairs, and plush outdoor…

Bougainvillea’s Will Have Its Last Call in February

​No women no cry might have been Bob Marley’s anthem but come February 28, 2010 “No Bougie’s, I’ll cry” is what regulars in the South Miami bar scene will be sniffling. That’s right, folks, South Miami’s chillest dive, Bougainvillea’s, will be shutting its doors for good leaving locals, UM students,…

The Inaugural Miami Music Festival Fails

If Boca Raton band Stonefox’s performance really shone at the Miami Music Festival this past weekend, it only served to underscore the amateurish quality of much of the rest of the event. Planned as a three-day set of simultaneous showcases, à la SXSW, the inaugural edition of MMF was poorly…

Surfer Blood Is Palm Beach County’s Great Indie-Rock Hope

He expected his mother to have reservations, but it didn’t matter. So Surfer Blood’s 23-year-old frontman, John Paul Pitts, broke the news in his parents’ kitchen this past August. Instead of enrolling as planned for fall classes at Florida Atlantic University, he would be hitting the road with his band…

Drinking and Dating

If love makes the world go ’round, alcohol makes love a little easier to find. That’s why, this week, I’ve selected a few great places you can go to have ultimate success in liquoring up (and scoring with) a hot date. Consider this your Christmas present — from my home…

New Deep House Mix by DJ Joaquin, Playing ON/OFF at La Folie Tonight

​DJ Joaquin Estevez was born in the Dominican Republic and relocated to Miami in 1992, where he’s been a mainstay of the local underground EDM scene since his long-standing residency for Sobebeats and their infamous warehouse parties in 2006-2008. He has since played regularly in support of the PL0T, Link,…