Download Ov Curse by Star Eyes & Dust La Rock!

Tomorrow is the big day… Are you ready to embrace the dark with the showcase to end all showcases? We sure hope so, but today we’d like to take a closer look at the impetus in creating the identity behind our SXSW showcase, Star Eyes and Dust La Rock’s Ov Curse Mix.

Back in 2008, Star Eyes did an Industrial/EBM mix for us called 7H3 H4X0R M1X (The Hacker Mix). The soundtrack for evenings in the 90s spent on sugar and caffeine rushed with only  glow of a computer monitor to keep us company. Ever since then I had been trying to get her to do a sequel, but bust schedules prevented it from happening. But late in 2009 we picked the conversation back up. This time around Star Eyes wanted to bring Dust La Rock into the mix to help curate song selection and just handle the overall visuals behind it. Knowing that like myself and Star Eyes, Dust had also grown up a huge fan of Industrial and EBM it made perfect sense that he jump on board. Plus the fact that he’s one of the best designers and illustrators working today also didn’t hurt!

The concept quickly shifter from merely a sequel to the 7H3 H4X0R M1X to it’s own beast. And when it was all said and done, Star Eyes and Dust had created Ov Curse together. Check Star Eyes take on it all below:

Dust La Rock and I spend a lot of time hanging out at banging heavy bass parties, and invariably end up talking about cults or Lords of Acid records while our friends look at us like weirdos. We’ve been talking about collaborating for a while, and now is a great time since Dusty is on a hardcore record-collecting binge and the follow-up to my goth/industrial H4X0R Mix for Мишка is long overdue. Мишка is a perfect partner for this mix, not only for the twisted aesthetic but also because the man Mikhail is a serious, serious darkwave afficionado. After hours of going through our favorite records and mp3s, we arrived at Ov Cvrse, which pairs classics from Front 242, Ministry, and Thrill Kill Kult with newer vibes from the worlds of techno, electro, punk, and even dubstep. I love the concept of “goth” or “darkwave” because it spans so many moods, tempos, and decades; with this mix I wanted to show how relevant music from 20 years ago still sounds alongside current stuff. My only regret is not getting more new bands on here, but I guess I have my work cut out for me on the next one… Enjoy. xx

Those of you who have already downloaded it I’m sure can attest that the mix does just what Star Eyes claims. It celebrates decades of dark based dance music that brings together the familiar and unexpected into the same darkly euphoric ebb and flow. Something that when it all came together spurred the decision to cast our entire SXSW showcase under the banner of what Star Eyes and Dust had created with Ov Curse.

In addition to having the mix available for download, we also printed a small run of physical copes of the mix onto CD which will be available at SXSW and our retail stores. But we couldn’t just stop with CDs… with a graphic concept so strong and so dark as the one that Dust had created, we had to make a t-shirt out of it.

Look at that thing!? How could we not put that graphic on a tee? Dust’s visual concept for Ov Curse was just begging to be placed on black dyed cotton and kept in a closet amongst an army of Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Cure and Sisters of Mercy T-shirts.

The back merely commemorates our first SXSW showcase ever in classic tour tee style listing all of the acts performing at it. Trust me two years down the line when you read off the name son the back of this tee you’re going to wish you were at the show.

These tees will be available tomorrow at the merch table at our showcase, and those who grab them will get a physical copy of the Ov Curse Mix to go along with them. I really look forward to seeing all of you out in Austin tomorrow. Come by grab a tee, enjoy the show and do say hello to all of us!

Thursday, March 18th, 8pm-2am
Club 1808
Austin, TX
All Ages, Free!

- My Pal the Crook