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...
"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..
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...
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...
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...
spectrumculture.com
Perfect for a rainy/sunny afternoon 🥸 Tony Joe White - Black And White #nowplaying #vinyl
Pete Bate
Graeme Thomson
'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...
Pete Bate
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...
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...
Thomson sidesteps hagiography in teasing out the best and worst of Mark Hollis’ humanity as he outlines his obsessive creative routines.
The Hot Chip Expanded Universe stays hot.
spectrumculture.com/2026/03/18/a...
Pete Bate
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...
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.
spectrumculture.com
Spectrum Culture
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...
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
