Neon Indian, Com Truise, Purity Ring, last night at Record Bar

• Bobby Koerper

The weird thing about a largely Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) concert is that MIDI is an industry protocol that makes all MIDI machines on the market communicate with a single format: a non-audio data signal. So it’s never really live. It’s a hard-wired, equalized digital language that, in its immediacy, sounds the same to everyone, even the creator. But this also seems part of the reason that its performers are so wildly creative and accessible, both on the Internet and live, especially now that MIDI comes in DIY variety, unlike synths in the ’80s. Alan Palomo of Neon Indian prefers the latter, but curated a show dominated by the former.