Jon’s Blog: What young dudes get out of hacking Zoom, Questionnaire on handling awkward social scenarios, and Why I love electronica
“NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) April 3, 2020 — The video conference app Zoom has risen to popularity during the coronavirus pandemic, but there are concerns about people hacking into calls and interrupting meetings.
From virtual happy hours to classes and meetings, Zoom is helping us connect in a time of unprecedented isolation.
But as users like Eastchester mother Susan Mastrolia found out, hackers are infiltrating too.
She says her 4-year-old daughter was participating in a local library’s Zoom call Thursday when a group of teenage boys hijacked the screen.
‘It happened in seconds. They started drawing, then they realized they were in a story-time, and then they started with… the pornographic images started popping up and the director got us out,’ Mastrolia told CBS2’s Christina Fan.
These cyber attacks are happening so often now, the FBI sent out a warning this week about so-called Zoombombers posting racist and graphic images.”
What was the stupidest, most irresponsible, and extreme thing you did between ages 13 and 18 — and couldn’t wait to tell your friends about?
If you know what I’m talking about, you’re likely a male who did a number of stupid, irresponsible, extreme, and risky things in your adolescence. Perhaps it continued a few more years beyond adolescence for some of you; and if you were fortunate, you lived through it.
I have to admit I was one of them — one of the dudes. Let me illustrate what I’m talking about.
It was my senior year of high school. I was spending time in the study hall, when I got bored and started meandering down the halls. I could see that the PA room was open and a girl in my class was preparing to broadcast what I considered to be a complete waste of our time — school announcements.
So, I decided to have some fun with it. Besides, she was cute and I liked making cute girls laugh. I can’t remember what I did; perhaps made weird faces at her. Once she started up the announcements, students and teachers could hear her start to chuckle and eventually laugh hysterically.
The next thing they heard was our English teacher storming into the audio room and yelling at me to knock it off and get the hell out of there. I got scolded, but I wasn’t kicked out of the school, fortunately.
There were several other episodes that my friends and family occasionally remind me about — some involving me drinking, partying it up, going for wild rides in the car, getting plenty of tickets, and there were more. One of the episodes took place when me and my high school buddies decided to spray foam from a fire extinguisher onto a man driving a convertible sports car — at 3:00 in the morning with a police patrol car parked not too far away watching the whole thing.
Yes, stupid, irresponsible, extreme, and risky things.
What did I get out of them? What do the hackers get out of being hackers?
This question came up for me again not long ago, when my Green Auto Market email newsletter was taken over by a hacker. I was contacted by email marketing service Mailchimp that something fishy was going on with my email distribution list for the newsletter. I soon found out that a spambot had been let loose that created about 450 fake subscribers to my newsletter over about three weeks. I figured it out with all the new subscribers who had jumbled names and emails that didn’t seem real.
I removed all of them, or I wouldn’t be allowed by Mailchimp to send out another newsletter on their service. After talking to someone with experience in computer networks about it, I realized that the hacker wasn’t doing what I thought might be going on — such as sending my readers a bunch of spam, or selling them phony get-rich-quick schemes. Nope, he was just hacking.
Teenagers pulling pranks is a lot riskier than when I was a kid. Since then, 9/11 has taken place and a number of mentally ill teenagers and young men have committed several horrific mass murders. The grownups have to pay serious attention to the issues these days.
Here are a few of the theories I’ve heard about for how we troublemakers (dudes) got started in the first place:
—We’re seeking attention.
—We’re tying to “one-up” our peers — to be the coolest dude in the pack.
—We have too much time on our hands, and seek something exciting and fun over being bored and isolated.
—We have a mindset ideal for pulling pranks and attempting to get away with them.
—Law enforcement officials, such as FBI agents, are smart to put a lot of pressure on hackers to come join the team and stop other hackers; some who have very bad intentions.
Perhaps there is some hope for hackers, dudes who need to grow up soon.
14 awkward social scenarios and a multiple-choice exam on best and worst choices for responding to them
I’m no expert at developing wonderful social skills that will help you ease into a party, sell a house, do fine on your first date, stand in line for a long time to get into the supermarket, or close an interview with a job offer. You’ll find plenty of videos, books, how-to articles, advice from friends, and good and bad experiences to clarify those best practices.
But I’ve had quite a bit of experience navigating through everyday socially awkward scenarios — and I have a few things to say about them. One of these episodes that you’ll read about takes place after the Coronavirus hit — and it’s about finding that priceless pack of toilet paper at the grocery store.
I’m thinking it might work best to write it out as a multi-choice exam. That way you get to consider options, think it through, and decide for yourself. It also allows me to present some of the strangest things I think can happen, which can be quite entertaining — if you’re not the person it happens to while others observe you being so embarrassed and socially awkward.
Scenario #1: You’re at a work event or a friend’s birthday party and you’re approached by someone you’ve spoken with before — but you can’t remember his or her name. Suddenly, others you know join the conversation and it’s time to introduce them to each other. Would you then………….
a. Pick a generic name and mumble it out, or cough and choke while saying it?
b. Apologize to the person and ask him or her to share their name with the group?
c. Act as if you’ve just suffered from amnesia and can’t remember your own name?
Scenario #2: You just parked your car, and started walking toward the shopping mall. All of a sudden, another driver does a jackknife turn into a tight parking space right in front of you, nearly hitting you. He or she (probably he) parks and exits the car. Would you then………….
a. Say something sarcastic, hostile, or educational to the driver — and if so, risk that the driver is carrying a weapon or had earned a black belt?
b. Say something reasonable in an even tone, such as, “Hey, please be careful! You almost hit me”?
c. Dwell on what a selfish idiot that guy has been, and what you should have said to him — to the extent that later on you’re so distracted that you nearly bump into another car?
Scenario #3: You’re in a supermarket and an old woman is ahead of you, moving along slowly pushing her cart, getting all her shopping done meticulously, usually while blocking traffic. Would you then………….
a. Find an opportunity to cut her off with your cart, then look back at her with a glare so harsh that she gets the message she’d made your shopping trip awful?
b. Assume that she could be in pain from a bad back or other physical limitation —explaining the grimace on her face — and then slow down and wait for her to get where she needs to go?
c. Swear that you’re never going to go grocery shopping again, instead living off vegetation growing in your back yard?
Scenario #4: You get on a long airline flight, and you’re ready to take a nap. Suddenly, you’ve got someone seated next to you who wants to chat. Would you then………..
a. Pretend you can only speak another language, such as Pig Latin?
b. Tell the person that you’re sorry, but you’re exhausted and need to get some rest?
c. Lock yourself in one of the lavatories, sit down and attempt to sleep — no matter how many knocks your hear at the door?
Scenario #5: You’re approaching the front entrance of a store when you’re asked to sign a petition to put a proposition on the next election ballot — and you have no clue as to what effect that ballot proposition would have if it passed. Would you then………..
a. Spend the next 20 minutes learning about it, assuming it’s all accurate and truthful?
b. Thank the person, decline from signing it, and make a mental note to research it?
c. Get into a long-winded argument with the guy trying to get your signature?
Scenario #6: You’re getting your hair cut or styled and haven’t started chatting with the barber/stylist yet. But others around you are having gregarious conversations. Would you then………..
a. Ask your haircutter/stylist to tell you funny stories about doing some really bad cuts?
b. Ask him or her if they have any vacation plans coming up?
c. Decide to shave your head every morning to save the money and time spent on haircuts?
Scenario #7: You’re approached by a homeless person offering to clean your car window for pay, or to receive your cash donation to assist them. Would you then………..
a. Apologize and tell them you have no money, even though you have a lot of it?
b. Tell them you can’t do so now, or that you don’t agree with what they’re doing?
c. Give them Monopoly money with a serious face?
Scenario #8: You walk into a conversation, suddenly realizing they’re talking about something private that no one else should have heard. Would you then………..
a. Change the subject completely, and ask them to join in?
b. Apologize for barring in, then turn and walk in another direction.
c. Pretend you know what they’re talking about until they look ready to kill you?
Scenario #9: An energetic, impassioned high school or college student rings your door bell and asks you to donate to a worthy cause. Would you then………..
a. Get hostile, yell at them, then slam the door in their face?
b. Tell them that you’re not interested, or don’t have money to contribute?
c. Explain that the radio waves being transmitted into your head are telling you the fund raiser is really from the CIA and is out to get you?
Scenario #10: Being on a long phone call, you really need to end it and go do something else; but that person on the other end will just not stop talking. Would you then………..
a. Make loud background noises, yelling out that you can’t hear them?
b. Respectfully interrupt and tell them you need to end the call?
c. Stay on the phone call until they’re done, and then plot their murder?
Scenario #11: Approaching someone you haven’t seen in a while — and the greeting will include either a handshake or a hug. Would you then………..
a. Reach out for a hug, and if they look uncomfortable, pretend you were just going to stretch your muscles or brush back your hair?
b. Ask them if they’d like a handshake or a hug?
c. Give them a bear hug, lift them off the ground, and risk getting tasered as the squished victim cries out for help?
Scenario #12: You’re watching a movie with friends and family when all of a sudden, an awkward scene starts to play out that you’d rather not watch with them. Would you then………..
a. Say something worse than what’s on TV to distract the group?
b. Suggest you change the channel?
c. Make up a wild story about what will happen next in the show?
Scenario #13: You wave back at someone fairly far away from you, only to realize they were waving at someone else. Would you then………..
a. Approach a person right behind them and act like you’d been waving at them?
b. Look away from the person and go back to what you were doing before?
c. Turn your waive into a robot dance move?
Scenario #14: You go shopping at a grocery store, and you need to buy some toilet paper. You’d heard it had been missing ever since news of the Coronavirus became a very big deal. You walk down the aisle and you see only one packet of TP left. Three other people are also eyeing the packet. Would you then………….
a. Start running in slow motion, as if you were in a movie?
b. Make a joke about it, and see if you can figure something out with the group?
c. Swear that you have a serious medical condition and need to have that TP or something serious is going to happen?
Just a few socially awkward scenarios to get through. Hopefully, we’ll all make the best decisions.
Favorite music styles: What do you love to listen to? Let me tell you about one of mine
What’s your favorite style of music that you might listen to on the radio, Spotify or Pandora? Reggae? Top 40? Hip-hop? Metal? Country?
There’s one music genre that I feel the need to dig into: Electronica. It’s still out there strong but is said to have been really big in the late 1990s and into the next decade. But it all started in the 1970s with events such as David Bowie recording three albums called the Berlin Trilogy, disco queen Donna Summer having a few mega-hits produced by the brilliant Giorgio Moroder, and the work of cutting-edge German band Kraftwerk. It all become central to pop music in the 1980s.
Let me give you a few examples:
Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love,” or
Kraftwerk’s “Autobahn,” or
David Bowie’s “Heroes,” or
Gary Numan’s “Cars” that you’ve heard a million times and might still listen to, or
years later with Paul Oakenfold’s “Ready Steady Go,” or
“Extreme Ways,” by Moby (the theme song to The Bourne Identity), or
“One More Time” by the mysterious, anonymous Daft Punk, or
a much more recent version of techno in Imagine Dragon’s “Radioactive.”
In the 1980s, I’d be at a party or a dance club and hear something like New Order’s “Blue Monday” in an extended version; or “Relax” by Frankie Goes to Hollywood,” or perhaps “The Politics of Dancing,” by Re-Flex. They’d stir up energy. You might have to get up and dance.
What do they all have in common? A few things, but synthesizers and drum machines are absolutely essential. Artists were buying electronic synth keyboards made by Yamaha, Roland, and Moog and sometimes doing everything themselves as DJs or recoding their own songs without a band. Techno artists who surged a few years later were clearly inspired by them, and by DJs and rap and hip-hop artists from the 1980s.
Electronica is also known as techno, electronic (minus the a), house music, trip-hop, ambient, and EDM. Sometimes it’s all instrumental, and can go on endlessly at a dance club or digital radio station. I tend to like the versions that are more within traditional song structures that have a beginning and an end. Sometimes I’m good listening to the pure instrumental artists, sort of like jazz music.
Eurythmics represented it well in the 1980s, and U2’s Achtung Baby album from 1991 took it to a new level (just listen to the opening 20 seconds from “Mysterious Ways”).
It continued strong through the ‘90s and into the 2000's. Some of it is still around, including what classical music violinist Lindsay Sterling has been up to; also give a listen to Imagine Dragons, xx, Fall Out Boy, Twenty One Pilots, OneRepublic, and Deadmau5.
Looking back on the late 1990s and the first half of the 2000s, a few groups totally stood out. One very interesting aspect is that they usually weren’t groups. They usually were led by two young European men who were wizards in the recording studio, and masters of sound effects and editing.
Techno songs I love from that era:
“Chicago” — Groove Armada
“In the Waiting Line” — Zero 7
“La Femme D’argent” — Air
“Around the World” — Daft Punk
“I Remember” — Deadmau5 & Kaskade
“We Are All Made of Stars” — Moby
“Praise You” — Fatboy Slim
“Dare” — Gorillaz
“Edge of the Ocean” — Ivy
Would you believe that Groove Armada was made up of two men from England? Listen to a few of their hit songs and you’d think they’d be more like Sly and Family Stone in their membership. Who was the male r&b singer in “Hands of Time,” which played on the soundtrack for the Collateral film staring Tom Cruise and Jaime Foxx? Or the female lead singer in “If Everybody Looked the Same”? Nope, these were singers hired to join them for recordings.
British artists, DJs, and producers — Andy Cato and Tom Findlay — were officially the band members of Groove Armada in the 1990s into the 2010s. That was the case for a few other big names in that music scene — Thievery Corporation, Daft Punk, Zero 7, Air, and Basement Jaxx being on that list.
I have other music scenes I can be passionate about as well. Perhaps I will do a bit more listening and get back to you about them……………
But as users like Eastchester mother Susan Mastrolia found out, hackers are infiltrating too.
She says her 4-year-old daughter was participating in a local library’s Zoom call Thursday when a group of teenage boys hijacked the screen.
‘It happened in seconds. They started drawing, then they realized they were in a story-time, and then they started with… the pornographic images started popping up and the director got us out,’ Mastrolia told CBS2’s Christina Fan.
These cyber attacks are happening so often now, the FBI sent out a warning this week about so-called Zoombombers posting racist and graphic images.”
What was the stupidest, most irresponsible, and extreme thing you did between ages 13 and 18 — and couldn’t wait to tell your friends about?
If you know what I’m talking about, you’re likely a male who did a number of stupid, irresponsible, extreme, and risky things in your adolescence. Perhaps it continued a few more years beyond adolescence for some of you; and if you were fortunate, you lived through it.
I have to admit I was one of them — one of the dudes. Let me illustrate what I’m talking about.
It was my senior year of high school. I was spending time in the study hall, when I got bored and started meandering down the halls. I could see that the PA room was open and a girl in my class was preparing to broadcast what I considered to be a complete waste of our time — school announcements.
So, I decided to have some fun with it. Besides, she was cute and I liked making cute girls laugh. I can’t remember what I did; perhaps made weird faces at her. Once she started up the announcements, students and teachers could hear her start to chuckle and eventually laugh hysterically.
The next thing they heard was our English teacher storming into the audio room and yelling at me to knock it off and get the hell out of there. I got scolded, but I wasn’t kicked out of the school, fortunately.
There were several other episodes that my friends and family occasionally remind me about — some involving me drinking, partying it up, going for wild rides in the car, getting plenty of tickets, and there were more. One of the episodes took place when me and my high school buddies decided to spray foam from a fire extinguisher onto a man driving a convertible sports car — at 3:00 in the morning with a police patrol car parked not too far away watching the whole thing.
Yes, stupid, irresponsible, extreme, and risky things.
What did I get out of them? What do the hackers get out of being hackers?
This question came up for me again not long ago, when my Green Auto Market email newsletter was taken over by a hacker. I was contacted by email marketing service Mailchimp that something fishy was going on with my email distribution list for the newsletter. I soon found out that a spambot had been let loose that created about 450 fake subscribers to my newsletter over about three weeks. I figured it out with all the new subscribers who had jumbled names and emails that didn’t seem real.
I removed all of them, or I wouldn’t be allowed by Mailchimp to send out another newsletter on their service. After talking to someone with experience in computer networks about it, I realized that the hacker wasn’t doing what I thought might be going on — such as sending my readers a bunch of spam, or selling them phony get-rich-quick schemes. Nope, he was just hacking.
Teenagers pulling pranks is a lot riskier than when I was a kid. Since then, 9/11 has taken place and a number of mentally ill teenagers and young men have committed several horrific mass murders. The grownups have to pay serious attention to the issues these days.
Here are a few of the theories I’ve heard about for how we troublemakers (dudes) got started in the first place:
—We’re seeking attention.
—We’re tying to “one-up” our peers — to be the coolest dude in the pack.
—We have too much time on our hands, and seek something exciting and fun over being bored and isolated.
—We have a mindset ideal for pulling pranks and attempting to get away with them.
—Law enforcement officials, such as FBI agents, are smart to put a lot of pressure on hackers to come join the team and stop other hackers; some who have very bad intentions.
Perhaps there is some hope for hackers, dudes who need to grow up soon.
14 awkward social scenarios and a multiple-choice exam on best and worst choices for responding to them
I’m no expert at developing wonderful social skills that will help you ease into a party, sell a house, do fine on your first date, stand in line for a long time to get into the supermarket, or close an interview with a job offer. You’ll find plenty of videos, books, how-to articles, advice from friends, and good and bad experiences to clarify those best practices.
But I’ve had quite a bit of experience navigating through everyday socially awkward scenarios — and I have a few things to say about them. One of these episodes that you’ll read about takes place after the Coronavirus hit — and it’s about finding that priceless pack of toilet paper at the grocery store.
I’m thinking it might work best to write it out as a multi-choice exam. That way you get to consider options, think it through, and decide for yourself. It also allows me to present some of the strangest things I think can happen, which can be quite entertaining — if you’re not the person it happens to while others observe you being so embarrassed and socially awkward.
Scenario #1: You’re at a work event or a friend’s birthday party and you’re approached by someone you’ve spoken with before — but you can’t remember his or her name. Suddenly, others you know join the conversation and it’s time to introduce them to each other. Would you then………….
a. Pick a generic name and mumble it out, or cough and choke while saying it?
b. Apologize to the person and ask him or her to share their name with the group?
c. Act as if you’ve just suffered from amnesia and can’t remember your own name?
Scenario #2: You just parked your car, and started walking toward the shopping mall. All of a sudden, another driver does a jackknife turn into a tight parking space right in front of you, nearly hitting you. He or she (probably he) parks and exits the car. Would you then………….
a. Say something sarcastic, hostile, or educational to the driver — and if so, risk that the driver is carrying a weapon or had earned a black belt?
b. Say something reasonable in an even tone, such as, “Hey, please be careful! You almost hit me”?
c. Dwell on what a selfish idiot that guy has been, and what you should have said to him — to the extent that later on you’re so distracted that you nearly bump into another car?
Scenario #3: You’re in a supermarket and an old woman is ahead of you, moving along slowly pushing her cart, getting all her shopping done meticulously, usually while blocking traffic. Would you then………….
a. Find an opportunity to cut her off with your cart, then look back at her with a glare so harsh that she gets the message she’d made your shopping trip awful?
b. Assume that she could be in pain from a bad back or other physical limitation —explaining the grimace on her face — and then slow down and wait for her to get where she needs to go?
c. Swear that you’re never going to go grocery shopping again, instead living off vegetation growing in your back yard?
Scenario #4: You get on a long airline flight, and you’re ready to take a nap. Suddenly, you’ve got someone seated next to you who wants to chat. Would you then………..
a. Pretend you can only speak another language, such as Pig Latin?
b. Tell the person that you’re sorry, but you’re exhausted and need to get some rest?
c. Lock yourself in one of the lavatories, sit down and attempt to sleep — no matter how many knocks your hear at the door?
Scenario #5: You’re approaching the front entrance of a store when you’re asked to sign a petition to put a proposition on the next election ballot — and you have no clue as to what effect that ballot proposition would have if it passed. Would you then………..
a. Spend the next 20 minutes learning about it, assuming it’s all accurate and truthful?
b. Thank the person, decline from signing it, and make a mental note to research it?
c. Get into a long-winded argument with the guy trying to get your signature?
Scenario #6: You’re getting your hair cut or styled and haven’t started chatting with the barber/stylist yet. But others around you are having gregarious conversations. Would you then………..
a. Ask your haircutter/stylist to tell you funny stories about doing some really bad cuts?
b. Ask him or her if they have any vacation plans coming up?
c. Decide to shave your head every morning to save the money and time spent on haircuts?
Scenario #7: You’re approached by a homeless person offering to clean your car window for pay, or to receive your cash donation to assist them. Would you then………..
a. Apologize and tell them you have no money, even though you have a lot of it?
b. Tell them you can’t do so now, or that you don’t agree with what they’re doing?
c. Give them Monopoly money with a serious face?
Scenario #8: You walk into a conversation, suddenly realizing they’re talking about something private that no one else should have heard. Would you then………..
a. Change the subject completely, and ask them to join in?
b. Apologize for barring in, then turn and walk in another direction.
c. Pretend you know what they’re talking about until they look ready to kill you?
Scenario #9: An energetic, impassioned high school or college student rings your door bell and asks you to donate to a worthy cause. Would you then………..
a. Get hostile, yell at them, then slam the door in their face?
b. Tell them that you’re not interested, or don’t have money to contribute?
c. Explain that the radio waves being transmitted into your head are telling you the fund raiser is really from the CIA and is out to get you?
Scenario #10: Being on a long phone call, you really need to end it and go do something else; but that person on the other end will just not stop talking. Would you then………..
a. Make loud background noises, yelling out that you can’t hear them?
b. Respectfully interrupt and tell them you need to end the call?
c. Stay on the phone call until they’re done, and then plot their murder?
Scenario #11: Approaching someone you haven’t seen in a while — and the greeting will include either a handshake or a hug. Would you then………..
a. Reach out for a hug, and if they look uncomfortable, pretend you were just going to stretch your muscles or brush back your hair?
b. Ask them if they’d like a handshake or a hug?
c. Give them a bear hug, lift them off the ground, and risk getting tasered as the squished victim cries out for help?
Scenario #12: You’re watching a movie with friends and family when all of a sudden, an awkward scene starts to play out that you’d rather not watch with them. Would you then………..
a. Say something worse than what’s on TV to distract the group?
b. Suggest you change the channel?
c. Make up a wild story about what will happen next in the show?
Scenario #13: You wave back at someone fairly far away from you, only to realize they were waving at someone else. Would you then………..
a. Approach a person right behind them and act like you’d been waving at them?
b. Look away from the person and go back to what you were doing before?
c. Turn your waive into a robot dance move?
Scenario #14: You go shopping at a grocery store, and you need to buy some toilet paper. You’d heard it had been missing ever since news of the Coronavirus became a very big deal. You walk down the aisle and you see only one packet of TP left. Three other people are also eyeing the packet. Would you then………….
a. Start running in slow motion, as if you were in a movie?
b. Make a joke about it, and see if you can figure something out with the group?
c. Swear that you have a serious medical condition and need to have that TP or something serious is going to happen?
Just a few socially awkward scenarios to get through. Hopefully, we’ll all make the best decisions.
Favorite music styles: What do you love to listen to? Let me tell you about one of mine
What’s your favorite style of music that you might listen to on the radio, Spotify or Pandora? Reggae? Top 40? Hip-hop? Metal? Country?
There’s one music genre that I feel the need to dig into: Electronica. It’s still out there strong but is said to have been really big in the late 1990s and into the next decade. But it all started in the 1970s with events such as David Bowie recording three albums called the Berlin Trilogy, disco queen Donna Summer having a few mega-hits produced by the brilliant Giorgio Moroder, and the work of cutting-edge German band Kraftwerk. It all become central to pop music in the 1980s.
Let me give you a few examples:
Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love,” or
Kraftwerk’s “Autobahn,” or
David Bowie’s “Heroes,” or
Gary Numan’s “Cars” that you’ve heard a million times and might still listen to, or
years later with Paul Oakenfold’s “Ready Steady Go,” or
“Extreme Ways,” by Moby (the theme song to The Bourne Identity), or
“One More Time” by the mysterious, anonymous Daft Punk, or
a much more recent version of techno in Imagine Dragon’s “Radioactive.”
In the 1980s, I’d be at a party or a dance club and hear something like New Order’s “Blue Monday” in an extended version; or “Relax” by Frankie Goes to Hollywood,” or perhaps “The Politics of Dancing,” by Re-Flex. They’d stir up energy. You might have to get up and dance.
What do they all have in common? A few things, but synthesizers and drum machines are absolutely essential. Artists were buying electronic synth keyboards made by Yamaha, Roland, and Moog and sometimes doing everything themselves as DJs or recoding their own songs without a band. Techno artists who surged a few years later were clearly inspired by them, and by DJs and rap and hip-hop artists from the 1980s.
Electronica is also known as techno, electronic (minus the a), house music, trip-hop, ambient, and EDM. Sometimes it’s all instrumental, and can go on endlessly at a dance club or digital radio station. I tend to like the versions that are more within traditional song structures that have a beginning and an end. Sometimes I’m good listening to the pure instrumental artists, sort of like jazz music.
Eurythmics represented it well in the 1980s, and U2’s Achtung Baby album from 1991 took it to a new level (just listen to the opening 20 seconds from “Mysterious Ways”).
It continued strong through the ‘90s and into the 2000's. Some of it is still around, including what classical music violinist Lindsay Sterling has been up to; also give a listen to Imagine Dragons, xx, Fall Out Boy, Twenty One Pilots, OneRepublic, and Deadmau5.
Looking back on the late 1990s and the first half of the 2000s, a few groups totally stood out. One very interesting aspect is that they usually weren’t groups. They usually were led by two young European men who were wizards in the recording studio, and masters of sound effects and editing.
Techno songs I love from that era:
“Chicago” — Groove Armada
“In the Waiting Line” — Zero 7
“La Femme D’argent” — Air
“Around the World” — Daft Punk
“I Remember” — Deadmau5 & Kaskade
“We Are All Made of Stars” — Moby
“Praise You” — Fatboy Slim
“Dare” — Gorillaz
“Edge of the Ocean” — Ivy
Would you believe that Groove Armada was made up of two men from England? Listen to a few of their hit songs and you’d think they’d be more like Sly and Family Stone in their membership. Who was the male r&b singer in “Hands of Time,” which played on the soundtrack for the Collateral film staring Tom Cruise and Jaime Foxx? Or the female lead singer in “If Everybody Looked the Same”? Nope, these were singers hired to join them for recordings.
British artists, DJs, and producers — Andy Cato and Tom Findlay — were officially the band members of Groove Armada in the 1990s into the 2010s. That was the case for a few other big names in that music scene — Thievery Corporation, Daft Punk, Zero 7, Air, and Basement Jaxx being on that list.
I have other music scenes I can be passionate about as well. Perhaps I will do a bit more listening and get back to you about them……………
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