Our trad-goth raggedy men turn their attention to that miscellany of one-off favourites that helped complete their constellation of beloved goth and alternative tracks. From unsigned bands with nothing to lose, to uncharacteristically dark offerings from otherwise uncool mainstream bands, the list is refreshing, revealing and not a little controversial.

Our nocturnal seekers of solace turn their thoughts to two very different albums, one a reverb-drenched rock-inflected anthemic classic, one an otherworldly choral journey thru the strangest recesses of the human soul. Along the way they find a (more or less) definitive answer to the question of the ages: what is goth?

As a decade comes to a close, Nick's band plays their biggest London gig, but on the other side of the mountaintop a painful descent awaits. Simon heads back to his hometown for a year out, finds himself a soul-crushing job in the infamous hive of drudgery atop the hill, but finds a way of piecing together life's fragments in his first recorded songs.

Patti Smith's revolutionary rock is in the air, as is the smell of Nick cooking bacon in Simon's vegetarian-only frying pan, this week. We discover how our weedy heroes found their dream flat in Camden High Street, only for it to be plunged into darkness and nightmare as the skylight went out. A goth hothouse was born, burned for a little while, then puttered out. Oh, the merciless scourings of time!

Moving into a flat across the road from the legendary Camden Palace club in London, heady days of smoke, noise, intense discussion and musical exploration ensued. An unforeseen windowless darkness descended from above. O Lord, were these headless, heedless pilgrims prepared? Does a goth where any colour except purple?