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It's hard to know what to expect from Martin Atkins, the Suge Knight of industrial music. While he is still keeping the Pigface circus alive, he has been working on outside projects and his own new material with the Damage Manual. On top of that comes Music to Download Pornography By -- a collection of cover songs featuring Atkins on percussion and Bobdog (Pseudo Budda, Evil Mothers) on sitar. The songs they cover range from Gary Numan's "Cars" to EMF's "Unbelievable" to Jane's Addiction's "Been Caught Stealing". For the most part, the songs are barely recognizable, with only a snippet of melody tipping the listener off to the original. As a concept, the whole thing sounds like something musicians would do when they've got time to kill -- but the results are undeniably intriguing. This is particularly true for those versions in which the percussion runs towards the tabla, and other musicians sit in on flute, didgeridoo, and whatever else seems handy. This helps overplayed, overexposed songs like "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and "Tainted Love" to find a new plane. This sort of musical redefinition elevates the album beyond mere novelty -- just as George Harrison's sitar work became an important part of rock history rather than an inside joke.
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