Last night a Mixtape saved my life

Bands from the gothic scene have indeed tried their hand at covers time and again, concentrating their efforts on the 60s and 70s music that influenced them most, from the Stooges to Marc Bolan and the Velvet Underground (starting with movement-defining acts like Joy Division, Bauhaus and Sisters Of Mercy, all duly represented here with a cover of their own).

And, still on the subject of Sixties music, the epochal “The End” (The Doors) stands almost in a class of its own, transfigured by Nico into a sepulchral litany.

But the lion's share undoubtedly goes to David Bowie, histrionic forerunner of the “movement”, with his surreal, decadent imagery: dark versions of Bowie songs abound, some of them collected on two compilations aptly titled “Goth Oddity” by Cleopatra Records. Left off this list is the extraordinary “Ziggy Stardust” by Bauhaus, which sticks too closely to the sound of the original, however, to be considered a truly “alternative” version. In the end, the choice fell on two genuine revelations: German chanteuse Andrea Schroeder's “Helden” and a poignant “Time” courtesy of Cinema Strange.

Goth queen Siouxsie devoted an entire album to covers (“Through The Looking Glass”), scattering others, no less precious, throughout her evocative musical journey: we've picked two of the most significant, her “The Passenger”, which has become almost as celebrated as Iggy Pop's original, and an irresistible “This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Both Of Us”, worthy of the feat pulled off by Sparks on the landmark “Kimono My House“

There's also room for some startling “variations on a theme”, as in the case of the ever-beguiling Malaria! tackling Bob Dylan, or Lee Hazlewood & Nancy Sinatra's “Sand”, reworked in their own inimitable style by German noise merchants Einstürzende Neubauten. And genuine gems shine with their own light, such as “In Power We Entrust The Love Advocated” (Dead Can Dance) reinterpreted by Dutch outfit Gathering, “Hymn” (Ultravox) duly “darkened” by Kirlian Camera, and the splendid version of “E ti vengo a cercare” (Franco Battiato) intoned like a dirge by the mournful, magnetic voice of Giovanni Lindo Ferretti of CSI.