Let me rant for a moment, if you will. Or just let me continue ranting.

So I went down to the local place of Spin Nightclub in Indianapolis. They are full of the revival of the Indianapolis local music scene. If it can be called such a thing as revival, as my memory doesn’t extend backwards far enough to remember a thriving local scene.

I also went the Slippery Noodle, where, as far as I have noticed it, pace has never gone slack in providing live music to Indianapolis.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t really make it a habit of hanging out at either place often.

The scenes are utterly different. You’ve got your Indie Rock/Junior Hiphop/Bad Punk/Old Favorite Local Bands From A Happier Era/Open Mic thing going on at Spin. Then you’ve got some Blues going on at Slippery Noodle.

The technical music talent at Slippery Noodle looks to be much better. By much I mean head and shoulders knees and toes better. The typical musician’s range of blues knowledge and skill allows them to skate seamlessly through Allman Brothers and Stevie Ray Vaughan songs. Slide guitar, complicated solos, band chemistry, and other crucial elements make the music good every night here. And you may not hear one original tune all night.

The opposite, in its extreme, exists at Spin. There is rarely anything that jumps out at you as extreme technical skill, innovative solos, band chemistry, etc. Just local bands playing their original songs. And by original I mean songs they wrote that are not usually that original anyway. Songs that sound like everyone else’s other songs. Same lyrical topics, same uninspired 4-bar verse chorus verse chorus bridge chorus. Same slowed-tempo drum-clanging musical-cacophony ends to every song that sounds the same as each last one.

The best musical nights at Slippery Noodle are the ones where they play blues favorites. That’s easy. Playing good original music is in most ways much harder.

The best musical nights at Spin still are the ones where bands are brought in that aren’t exactly local anymore. What is lacking in the local talent? What separates the original new bands from the old ones?

In my opinion it is music innovation, all the same. You want to write new songs? Well, write them like the new songs that are having success. Play the freaking keyboard (I didn’t see one keyboard between three bands the other night at spin). In fact, play anything electronic. That’s where the world is headed, in terms of new music.

I don’t mean change your f***ing name to Paul Oakenfold and get your tongue pierced. I mean, mix it up a bit and get some sort of loop machine, effects panel, sampler, delay pedal, something, and incorporate it into your music. It doesn’t even have to sound that electronic. A keyboard would probably do it!

The all-conventional-instrument bands play traditional forms of music. Traditional forms like blues, folk, and rock & roll. Indie has embraced electronic instrumentation. Harsh but true.

I’ve mentioned over 35 bands in these 3 newsletters. Everyone has something electronic going for them with the exception of 1. Sammy Hagar and 2. Colin Meloy Sings Live. Let’s admit Sammy Hagar, reborn today, would not be able to play anywhere. Colin Meloy sings just he and his guitar.

People included are such as Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, and Ray Charles who used the maximum amount of technology available to them to record and play music. Others include top downloaded Hot Chip, top iTunes rated Ghostland Observatory, Radiohead, red-hot Tokyo Police Club, and everyone else!

Why? Because even if you’re not into electronic music, using the latest available technology to produce music is a requirement of the times. The only exceptions are if you are bursting at the seams with talent, in which case, you are probably going to be playing complex blues covers at the Slippery Noodle.

That’s that. Play something with buttons, keys, and knobs. Or fade away into mediocrity. Rant over.