The Kleptones

The Kleptones are a one-man English electronic music act fronted by music producer and DJ Eric Kleptone. They are best known for their Internet-exclusive mashup albums. Typically, Eric Kleptone mixes rock/R&B instrumentals with rap and hip-hop vocals in a style that is "fun... and often surprising". Both his name and the group's name are parodies 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).

History The group's first release was a mix of Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots by 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 the group's breakthrough and most highly acclaimed album, fusing Queen's rock music with rap vocals and many soundbites from movies and other sources. On 8 November 2004, Waxy, the main site that was mirroring A Night at the Hip-Hopera, received a cease and desist notice from the Walt Disney Company 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 on XFM, and was originally broadcast on 23 January 2005. Subsequently, it was released as an internet-only album, which fused R&B instrumentals with pop, rap, and R&B vocals.

In mid-2005, Eric Kleptone was awarded the Webby Award for Artist of the Year by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, who stated he had "taken the art of mash-up to a new level" and become "a global sensation".

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

In late 2006, Eric Kleptone was invited to speak at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, as half of "The Pirate and the Suit", a head-to-head discussion with EMI Music vice-chairman David Munns.

On 7 December 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 artists.

In early 2008 the group released Live'r Than You'll Ever Be - Bestival 2007, a live album containing a recording of their show at Bestival, in the Isle of Wight, on Saturday 8 September 2007.

On 1 January 2010, Uptime / Downtime was released. One preview of the album, the track "Voodoo Sabotage" was released on the Kleptones blog a few weeks prior to release. Later that year, on 9 August 2010, a collection of B-sides and tracks that didn't make it onto an album, Shits & Giggles was released.

On 28 January 2018 a new EP, "COUNT-IN (1234)" was released. On 25 April 2018, The Kleptones announced via their mailing list that a new album would be released later in the year and preceded by four mixtapes. On 18 October 2018, the first of these albums, OV, was released through their mailing list after an experimental release, in which random subscribers received tracks from the album and were asked to compile the album together, was unsuccessful. The second part, LO, was released through the mailing list on 11 February 2019, after a similar experimental release. The third part, ER, was released 18 February 2020; the experimental release system was bypassed and the final album was sent directly to subscribers. The final part, AD, making the entire project come together as "OVERLOAD", was released 13 July 2021; the entire project adding up to over 8 hours.

Starting on 22 March 2020, The Kleptones started releasing a series of "Lockdown Radio" mixes.

Discography Albums Remix albums + List of albums Title Album details Yoshimi Battles the Hip-Hop Robots Released: March 2003 Format: Digital download A Night at the Hip Hopera Released: 2004 Format: Digital download From Detroit to J.A. Released: 2005 Format: Digital download 24 Hours Released: March 2006 Format: Digital download Uptime / Downtime Released: 1 January 2010 Format: Digital download Shits & Giggles Released: 9 August 2010 Format: Digital download OV Released: 18 October 2018 Format: Digital download LO Released: 11 February 2019 Format: Digital download ER Released: 18 February 2020 Format: Digital download AD Released: 13 July 2021 Format: Digital download Shirts & Gurgles Released: 1 January 2025 Format: Digital download

Live albums + List of albums Title Album details Live'r Than You'll Ever Be - Bestival 2007 Released: December 2007 Format: Digital download

Extended plays + List of extended plays Title Album details Never Trust Originality Released: 2003 Format: Digital download EP1 Released: 2006 Format: Digital download EP2 Released: 2006 Format: Digital download EP3 Released: 2006 Format: Digital download COUNT-IN (1234) Released: 2018 Format: Digital download

Singles + List of singles, showing year released and album name Title Year Album "Madonna Is a Breeder"/"Material Cannon" 2002 Non-album singles "Bling Crosby" 2003 "Bo Rhap" 2004 "Careless or Dead" (Bootie version) 2006 24 Hours "Jump You Fucker" 2010 Non-album single

Mixtapes + List of mixtapes Title Mixtape details HC01 - Funk Hop & Electro Rock Released: 2006 Format: Digital download HC02 - A String Quartet Tribute To The Kleptones Released: 2006 Format: Digital download HC03a - Best Of 2006 Part 1 "Hip-Hop Started In Ipswich" Released: 2006 Format: Digital download HC03b - Best Of 2006 Part 2 "Sounds For The Festive Vortex" Released: 2006 Format: Digital download HC03c - Best Of 2006 Part 3 "If There's A Glitch, You're An Ostrich" Released: 2006 Format: Digital download HC04 - Live At Wired Magazine Second Life Office Launch Party Released: 2018 Format: Digital download HC05 - Live At Glastonbury 2010 Released: 2018 Format: Digital download HC06 - Leaving Here Released: 2007 Format: Digital download HC07 - May Daze Released: 2008 Format: Digital download HC08a - Best Of 2008 part 1 "Songs For Magic Feet" Released: 2008 Format: Digital download HC08b - Best Of 2008 part 2 "We have the machine ready fi dem" Released: 2009 Format: Digital download HC08c - Best Of 2008 part 3 "La Blouse Piscine" Released: 2009 Format: Digital download HC08d - Best Of 2008 part 4 "My boss has the imagination of a gnat" Released: 2009 Format: Digital download HC08e - Best Of 2008 part 5 "Burned In A Feathering Pyre" Released: 2009 Format: Digital download HC09 - Rough And Ready On The Plinth Released: 2009 Format: Digital download HC10 - Once Upon A Time In The Seventies Released: 2010 Format: Digital download HC11 - Moombahtronica Released: 2010 Format: Digital download HC12 - No Wrong Show Released: 2010 Format: Digital download HC13 - Walking Under Ladders Released: 2012 Format: Digital download HC14a - M3B part 1 "A Massage From The Swedish Prime Minister" Released: 2012 Format: Digital download HC14b - M3B part 2 "Stop That, It's Silly…" Released: 2012 Format: Digital download HC14c - M3B part 3 "I'm Sorry, I'm Going To Have To Shoot You" Released: 2012 Format: Digital download HC15 - Paths To Graceland Released: 2012 Format: Digital download HC16 - Lucem Diem Released: 2016 Format: Digital download HC17 - Tenebris Noctis Released: 2016 Format: Digital download HC18 - Absolute Elsewhere Released: 2018 Format: Digital download HC19 - Tightening Up Released: 2018 Format: Digital download HC20 - Azimuth Divider Released: 2018 Format: Digital download HC21 - Liquid Oxygen Released: 2018 Format: Digital download HC22 - Electromagnetic Radiation Released: 2018 Format: Digital download HC23 - Occipital Vapour Released: 2018 Format: Digital download