Life Beyond Mars is a somewhat unsurprisingly, a Bowie covers album, yet it stays firmly rooted in one genre. So it is that we get a whole twelve songs of electronic versions of Bowie classics. No big deal: Bowie has experimented with electronica for years. There was that whole Berlin period for starters, and then there was Earthling - his somewhat misguided, but weirdly enjoyable drum & bass album.

So quite how it is possible to fumble classic songs on such a gigantic scale is something of a mystery. I say classic - Magic Dance from Labyrinth managed to make it on here and it is every bit as execrable as you might expect. It's playing in the background as I type and it sends shudders up my spine as it plays out to the bitter end. Ah the power of Voodoo. Who needs a damn good voodooing? Kelley Polar - you do.

Susumu Yokota is also on here having a stab at Golden Years. He recorded the brilliant Grinning Cat and The Boy and The Tree, so surely his contribution will be enough to drop the jaw? Somehow, it manages to miss the mark spectacularly; Yokota fails to impose himself on the track in the slightest and in doing so creates arguably the biggest disappointment on the album.

Cover versions are all well and good, but you do wish that bands would bring something of themselves to the table. When LBcovered Superbad it positively dripped in electrons, and similarly Schneider TM Vs KPT.michi.gan's take on There Is A Light That Never Goes Out used the cold indifference of their electronica to accentuate the emotion at the heart of the song.

Almost without exception, the artists on Life Beyond Mars miss the opportunity to do something brave with these classic songs. There are a few exceptions however. The Thing deconstruct Life On Mars until it sounds like nothing more than the static on a balloon that's been rubbed repeatedly on a cardigan. Leo Minor's take on Ashes To Ashes is perky enough to at least sound as if his having fun ripping into Bowie's back catalogue.

Au Revoir Simone stand head and shoulders about all comers however with their elegant take on Oh! You Pretty Things. They transform the original something bordering on hymnal; by the chorus you want to hold your lighter in the air and sway gently, which is not easy when you're storming down the outside lane and fiddling with your iPod.

On paper, Life Beyond Mars is a great idea (as I'm sure Tin Machine was), in practice it's a sadly flawed album but there are one or two gems to be had here and there.

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