It's about time I gave this a listen

So what am I doing at 1:00 AM in Barcelona on a lovely Friday night? Besides recovering from our whirlwind Ikea trip (we totally rocked that trip, and even did it on public transportation)?

Well, I was playing internet poker, but a straight on the river bested my kings. So, I'm finally (read: six months after downloading) listening to The Kleptones' most recent album, 24 Hours. If you haven't heard of The Kleptones, you are seriously missing out. I think they are by FAR the most interesting and technically accomplished mash-up artists. Mash-ups are basically new songs that are composed entirely of old songs, like sampling in hip hop taken to the next level.

You ever notice how The Beatles' "Lady Madonna" and Sublime's "What I Got" have the same chord progression? No? Well then you're not a huge nerd like me. But take those songs, throw them in a digital mixer like Garage Band, play around a bit, and PRESTO! You have a mash-up. Bonus points for songs that you would never think go together, like George Michael's "Careless Whisper" and Bon Jovi's "Dead or Alive" (not kidding - actual mash-up).

So why take so long to listen to an album I downloaded six months ago? Well, it's not the most accessible Kleptones album, and it's l-o-n-g. Most of their albums have a central thread holding them together, e.g. using Queen tracks in every song, but this album tries to simulate 24 hours of uninterrupted activity, mirroring the moods and situations the protagonist feels waking, working, partying hard, partying harder, and stumbling home. Definitely good stuff, but how often do you have three hours to devote to listening to an album? Right.

In the meantime, I suggest you give The Kleptones a shot, maybe with A Night at the Hip-Hopera or From Detroit to J.A.