Living each day as it comes with incurable bowel cancer. Dad, husband, vinyl enthusiast, runner, West Ham, Worcs CCC, write stuff. Seeking the kind way through. Where I’m at: petesprogress.com
Pete Bate
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Janis Chen’s description of living with incurable cancer - including the analogy of being stuck in extra time of a football match - resonates deeply. I’ve borrowed from it in my new post about 1,000 days with Stage 4 cancer.
www.petesprogress.com/post/1-000-d...
Perfect for a rainy/sunny afternoon 🥸 Tony Joe White - Black And White #nowplaying #vinyl
As someone who has always loved Hot Chip, I enjoyed reviewing Alexis Taylor’s new LP for @spectrumculture.bsky.social . Probably his strongest solo album yet 🎷
spectrumculture.com/2026/03/18/a...
New blog post - featuring ashes, @sultansofping.bsky.social, The Ballad of Wallis Island and God being on the losing team. Thanks to @petepaphides.bsky.social for the Richard Rohr/U2 link 👌🏼 www.petesprogress.com/post/pullove...
Here’s my review for @spectrumculture.bsky.social of the immersive In Another World about Talk Talk/Mark Hollis. Kudos to @graemethomson.bsky.social for bringing out the beauty and humanity of these timeless albums.
@newmodernbooks.bsky.social
spectrumculture.com/2026/06/18/i...
'It’s the enveloping silence at the core of this immersive book that rings truest ... in sending us back to these timeless records, and slowing us down to their meticulous individual heartbeats, Thomson achieves exactly what he – and Hollis – set out to do.' 🙏🙏🙏
spectrumculture.com/2026/06/18/i...
The Hot Chip Expanded Universe stays hot.
spectrumculture.com/2026/03/18/a...
"Honest and enchanting." Thanks to @petebate.bsky.social for this lovely, indepth review of Our Secrets Are The Same for @spectrumculture.bsky.social
spectrumculture.com/2026/02/15/o..
Thomson sidesteps hagiography in teasing out the best and worst of Mark Hollis’ humanity as he outlines his obsessive creative routines.
More of a love story than a memoir, the duo's secrets - many shared with us in this honest, enchanting book - remain at the heart of an enduring relationship which continues to outlive the whims of fa...
As the season of Lent begins again, it's like slipping on my old blue woolly jumper. Probably about 15 years old, the jumper is stretched and saggy and, following Lisa's frown, I tend not to wear it i...
Paris in the Spring is a gem of a record which, while never over-reaching its ambition, sparkles with electronic ingenuity as it takes in all seasons of human experience.
It's a few days after my 52nd birthday. We had a great Bank Holiday weekend, celebrating with friends and family; even the weather held out until my annual birthday barbecue was winding down.There ha...
Janis Chen - I have stage four cancer – there will be no cure, but death isn’t necessarily imminent: this is how it feels to live in the long middle | Death and dying | The Guardian www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics
When you are cured, the world cheers; when you are dying, it mourns. But when you are simply maintaining, the world is at a loss
