So there's been an assorted hoo-hah over the
Indieshite website and its unbridled offensiveness and negativity. Some of the stranger accusations can pretty much be dismissed out of hand, like
Signal Drench's complaint that it "seems to solely be aimed at American publications covering indie music, instead of England's own NME and other Brit publications who have regular transgressions of hating American bands for being simply that." For goodness sakes, is Independence Day making everyone go stir-crazy? It's pretty obvious that these guys are attacking pretty much whoever they read (or rather who they secretly
enjoy reading), and specifically people who are likely to notice and care (and by God has it worked).
Everyone attacks the
NME. Nothing changes, so why bother?
What do I think of the Indieshite page in general? I enjoy it a lot. I don't know how I'd feel if Skykicking was attacked, although my site's unbridled amateurism means it probably flies underneath their radar - hell, I'd take it as a compliment that somebody noticed. Admittedly there's little that's responsible about its slagging - the group's recent attempts at constructive criticism have not only been paltry, but in my opinion have actually sapped the force of their convictions - but I don't see why responsibility is a requirement.
In much the same way that Tanya at I Hate Music is quite obviously biased in her dismissal of all music, the entire purpose of Indieshite is to be blindly malicious. By seeing every aspect of musical criticism as a flaw, Indieshite challenges the reader to ask themselves what they consider to be the qualities and pitfalls of criticism. Rather than expecting Indieshite to spell out the obvious and offer suggestions as to how they should improve, those sites which fall under the magnifying glass should ask themselves if the flaws Indieshite points out are in fact flaws or really strengths. If they can be established as the latter, great, work from that angle. If they can't, then Indieshite's done you a service and you know what needs to be done.