PBC: All Fools

Being creatures of free will, human beings don’t need a reason to celebrate, but boy, do we sure love an excuse to party. Think back a few weeks ago to St. Patrick’s Day: this is a holiday that commemorates a figure of a specific cultural heritage that makes up just a slice of the world’s population. Yet Irish or not, everyone loves to swill green beer, sing Irish shanties, and be surrounded by their friends and loved ones. We persistently come up with arbitrary holidays, either with legitimate cultural origins or simply for the sake of themselves, just to have an excuse to bring people together to laugh, love, and to enjoy. To further illustrate, we here at the Institute of Idle Time are gearing up to celebrate 15 years of obsessive list making and other asinine, pop-related pursuits with a beach bonfire that required months of preparation and planning. Why?

Because why not?

So happy April Fool’s day, perhaps the most pointless of all celebrations! In the tradition of the Roman hilaria, the medieval Feast of Fools, and the Hindu celebration of Holi, The Playlist By Committee has decided to celebrate this most frivolous springtime tradition with a special mixtape. These are not funny songs, or songs about being fools. In fact, these aren’t really songs. PBC’s “All Fools” is a compilation of our favorite skits and interludes on albums. These are the tracks that you never hear on Pandora, and that you more likely than not skip through when listening to full-albums on your iPod or CD player. They’re neglected because they rarely ever reach pop-song length, and in some cases are derided by critics, but we here at PBC think nothing is too unimportant to spend hours of our lives debating and organizing. The result of our labors is a series of intermissions that add up to about the length of an episode of Seinfeld, the best metric for time, and hopefully you’ll find it equally entertaining.

You may think this is a pointless endeavor. That thought crossed our minds too. But maybe we just wanted a reason to get together and make another list before our next official playlist. We built this for the same reason you’ll hopefully give it a listen.

Because why not?

PBC: All Fools

Wiz Khalifa – Slim Skit

It’s been ten years since Wiz Khalifa debuted, and finally people seem to care as little about him as I do. I won’t say I’m immune to his hits; “Say Yeah” and “Black and Yellow” are undeniably infectious, but “Slim Skit” off his Kush and Orange Juice mixtape is my favorite thing he’s ever produced. The bongos and whining guitar imitate a Curtis Mayfield track, then Slim’s monologue sounds straight out of a 1970’s exploitation movie. His lamentations are funny, semi-sympathetic, and littered with pieces of casual wisdom (re: “you gotta stay cool”). – RF

2. Madvillain – Bistro

MF Doom sets the stage for a night of entertainment. Madlib’s plays with footsteps. Name drops and bass lines fill the room. What’s on the menu? – IP

3. Janelle Monae – Good Morning Midnight (Interlude)

We need more people in the world like DJ Crash Crash. – MH

4. Daft Punk – WDPK 83.7 FM

Sometimes you just need to be reminded (literally) that you’re listening to a classic album. – MH

5. De La Soul – Transmitting Live From Mars

Vinyl pops, a French man speaks, the beat drops, this is what it means to be an interlude in the genre of hip hop. This is the golden era of rhymes and intermissions. – IP

6. Phoenix – Definitive Breaks

Standing on a rooftop. Neon lights, illuminating and reflecting off of black leather, bend into eyes. They hover, the brass swells, the lights die. Waiting for something else to rise from the ashes. – IP

7. Captain Murphy – Disciples

I’ve often joked about how if I had more dedication I would become a cult leader. The Captain knows how to make it sound even cooler in a faux infomercial. Dope beats with dulcet tones telling you that god is dead and you can be the new one. I look forward to hearing this track every time. Also would you mind in reading this pamphlet? I’ve come up with some good ideas… – BC

8. Motion Man – Action Figure Intro

I only know of this obscure Bay Area rapper because of my buddy Birchel. He went to UCSC, and one time while I was visiting him, one of his roommates had opened their home to two Oakland refugees named J-Lah and “One Hundred” (he said he was called this because he’s the only one in his family who was 100% with his mom). That weekend spawned stories that we still joke about today, but the most influential byproducts of the encounter were the discovery of Chromeo and Motion Man. Clearing Out the Fields was Motion’s long awaited solo-debut, and “Action Figure Intro” stuffs over a decade’s worth of Motion’s style and character development into a quick, hilarious minute. The album has a few high points, but I enjoy listening to it to reminisce about J-Lah, One Hundred, and Paul from the Diamond Center. – RF

9. Andrew W.K – Gundam on Earth

Not a lot to say about this beside Gundam is one of the most formative things to happen in my life. This is literally an excuse to put a Gundam related thing on PBC because it will be my only chance. Andrew W.K. does it the classic intro justice as well. – BC

10. M.I.A – Dash the Curry Skit

Lots of people dashing their curry today because April Fool’s Day is the worst. – MH

11. Outkast – Good Day, Good Sir

By the early aughts, the skit and hip-hop began to part ways, mostly because skits had stopped being purposeful, instead becoming dead space filled with vulgar jokes and goofy fake-personalities. Outkast’s “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below” was one of the last hop-hop albums of the time that used skits the way Prince Paul originally did for De La Soul, interstitially tying tracks together to underline the overall personality/concept of the record. Andre’s “Good, Day Good Sir” exemplifies the sonic vaudeville show that is The Love Below. It’s an homage to Abbot and Costello with a sexual charge that perfectly prefaces the following track, “Behold a Lady.” – RF

12. The Knife – Hangin’ Out

The lyrics to this classic interlude would make for some flaming bars from any up and coming Swedish slowmo-rapper. “I’m the head of a small business” is certifiably more ballin’ than anything Jay Z has ever said, just think about it. – IP

13. Kendrick Lamar – For Free? (Interlude)

Soooooo jazzy, and one of the best music videos I’ve seen in awhile. – MH

14. The Beastie Boys – Ask for Janice

The Beastie Boys whole background as a DIY punk band grown up on New York Public Access is one of the most endearing parts of them. Paul’s Boutique is their masterpiece and of course the lead into the last track is their ode to their late nights watching infomercials. When I was in middle school, I used to prank call people quite a bit and I always loved asking for Janice. – BC

15. Dr. Octagon – I Got To Tell You

Writing these made me realize I love a fake commercial and this may be my favorite one. It has the makings of everything I love: a rapper’s alter ego (Kool Keith as Dr. Octagon), a concept album with an insane premise ( Dr. Octagon is a time traveling alien from Jupiter who makes his living as gynecologist and surgeon), a stupid joke ( 1-800-PP5-1-DOO DOO), and so much more. – BC

16. The Lonely Island – Watch Me Do Me – Classy Skit #2

I had to make sure a dick joke was on this list. – BC

17. Hopsin – No Words (Skit)

My main nilla, Drew, turned me on to this tune earlier this year, and it’s one of the most clever skits I’ve heard. Critics complain that skits are mere filler, an uncreative way to up a track list, but Hopsin uses the skit to criticize unoriginal rappers and the lack of creativity in the genre. It’s a nice slice of irony, and I hate to admit, I kind of like this fake song. – RF

18. Kanye West – School Spirit Skit 1

Kanye’s original trilogy was a three part journey from the POV of a modern Horatio Algiers, a boot-strapper who couldn’t advance on the institutional ladder of success that dropped out of school and hustled to the top. Though the skits were dropped by the final chapter, Graduation, The College Dropout and Late Registration each contain improv lampooning college culture and the idea that the American higher education system guarantees a better life. I don’t always agree with Kanye’s point of view and I find a lack of personal responsibility on his part, but I know what it’s like to feel like your degree doesn’t mean anything. – RF

19. Taylor McFerrin – Blind Aesthetics

What is that sound in the distance? Insects seem to hover around inside the mind. A little beauty in between the madness. Some noise to pass the time. – IP

20. Kendrick Lamar – For Sale? (Interlude)

This is a legit song, barely qualifying for this list because it has “interlude” in the track name, and the same goes for “For Free?” Two seriously underrated tracks off of the absolutely stacked “To Pimp A Butterfly.” – MH