The Kleptones

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The Kleptones, aka Eric Kleptone is a DJ from Brighton in the United Kingdom who has produced several internet-only mashup albums. Typically he mixes rock/R&B instrumentals with rap and hip-hop vocals. His name is a parody of the famous guitarist, Eric Clapton, and a play on the fact that he is a "klepto of tones" (that is, he "steals" others' music).

1 History
2 Discography
3 External links

[edit] History

His first release was a mix of Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots by the The Flaming Lips with hip-hop/rap vocals and various soundbites from television programs and movies entitled Yoshimi Battles the Hip-Hop Robots.

A Night at the Hip-Hopera was his break-through and most highly acclaimed album which fused Queen's rock music with rap vocals & many soundbites from movies (such as Ferris Bueller's Day Off) and other sources. On November 8, 2004, Waxy, the main site that hosted A Night at the Hip-Hopera, received a cease & desist notice from the Walt Disney Company (Hollywood Records) for illegal sampling of songs by Queen, similar to the banning of DJ Danger Mouse's The Grey Album.

From Detroit to J.A. was created originally for the radio program The Rinse, XFM, London, UK and was originally broadcast on January 23, 2005. Subsequently it was released as an internet-only album which this time fused R&B instrumentals with Pop, Rap, and R&B vocals.

In 2006 he released 24 Hours, a double length album. The release of 24 Hours was preceded by three EP length releases, EP1, EP2 and EP3. Each EP was available for download for a limited time -- EP2 replaced EP1, and in turn was replaced by EP3. EP3 itself was removed when 24 Hours was released.

In May 2006 the groundbreaking Creative Commons-licensed film project A Swarm of Angels announced the Kleptones as soundtrack producers.

On December 7, 2006 Eric Kleptone posted a podcast, titled Hectic City on the Kleptones' blog, stating that the intention is to make it a weekly release. The podcast contains mash-ups by the Kleptones, and other mash-up artists.