" The initial author and many of the contributors have made interesting and welcome debate, but others are rude in a way I suspect they would never dare to be in person, yet it is taken no less personally by us. Making and releasing art makes an artist subject to criticism but not to abuse and slander, nor does making art, however successfully, give the artist any thicker skin than the next person."

Mudcat is a place of robust debate. That's the nature of a forum. People naturally find it easier to be blunt about someone on a forum rather than to their face: it's a matter of good manners. Making art DOES make you subject to abuse in a culture of free speech. It comes with the territory. Has an artist the right to say: don't be rude to me, I'm as thin-skinned as the next person? If you need consolation, count your CD sales.

And as a Tynesider born and bred, I can confirm that the Unthanks do indeed sing in their own regional accent. Wake up at the back, Michael!