God, we're rubbish at this social networking thing.  Here we are, the first of June, and we've only just taken our Christmas decorations down.  I'm very sorry that we haven't updated our page for so long, and that many of you have waited for such a long time for us to process your friend requests, or to reply to your messages.


We have been quite busy though.  We've got a new album coming out... and here's another example of us being useless.  Because it's coming out tomorrow (02/06/08), and we're only just telling you about it now.  By my reckoning, if your local record shop opens at 9.30am, you should be able to buy it in about 15 hours time.  Go Cassetteboy, way to slowly build the hype and excitement.  Like I say, useless.


But it gets worse.  Because we don't just have one product to sell tomorrow, but two.  I have written a comedy novel, and that is also published in about 15 hours from now.  The book is called 'Earth Inc.', and it's by me, Michael Bollen.  Yes, that is my real name.  So if you've been waiting to sue Cassetteboy for our massive copyright infringement, now's the time to come and get me.


'Earth Inc.' is a mix of satire, smut and silliness that will be all too familiar to fans of Cassetteboy.  It's about the power of corporations, the gap between rich and poor and invasive new technology.  But if that all sounds a bit serious, it's also about randy Frenchmen, robot call centre staff, and whether it's wrong to fancy a girl who's physically attractive but mentally mental.


 Here's what Stephen Merchant, of The Office and Extras, said about it:


"A funny, charming, inventive comic novel. Michael Bollen's warmth, sharp wit and eye for satirical detail reminded me of Douglas Adams. Quite possibly the best work of fiction since The Bible."


Which was nice.


You should be able to find it in branches of Waterstones tomorrow (in the sci-fi section, but it's an out and out comedy really), or you could get it from Amazon, here:
http://www. amazon. co. uk/Earth-Inc-Michael-Bollen/dp/0955610532/

I've put a reading of the first two chapters on our myspace player, so they should give you some idea of what it's all about.


Also on the myspace player are four new Cassetteboy tracks!  About bloody time.  These are from the album that's out tomorrow, 'Carry On Breathing'.  I think it's our best yet, it's certainly a more coherent album than Dead Horse, and it should be a bit more long lasting.  I'd love to know what think.


That's all for now.  Hopefully it won't be another six months before I log on again.



Toodle-oo,

Mike

Read extracts from 'Earth Inc.' here


http://www. picnic-publishing. co. uk/earthinc/

Be friends with my book on myspace here (and listen to more extracts):

http://www. myspace. com/earthincbook

or be friends on Facebook, here:

http://www. facebook. com/group. php?gid=18130775682

and join the Cassetteboy Facebook group (not that there is anything there at the moment)

http://www. facebook. com/group. php?gid=14353029132

Finally, here are youtube links to two new tracks, 'The Football Bit' and 'Dumbing Down Doctor Who'  in case you want to email the links to anyone.


http://www. youtube. com/watch?v=GdZworAkuXI

http://www. youtube. com/watch?v=60r0jXOMsys

You know that bit in Peter Pan, where everyone in the world says that they believe in fairies and it brings Tinkerbell back to life?  Well, I'm hoping that if I can get enough people to say out loud "Pipex are incompetent morons," it might resurrect my phone and internet connection.  Ready?  One, two, three, "Pipex are incompetent morons."

Thanks for doing that with me, I'll let you know if it helps.  I know it's a bit of a long shot, but to be honest I think there's more chance of that fixing my net connection than of Pipex's technical support sorting it out.

So if I'm a bit slow responding to your add requests, messages and stupid wedding pictures at the moment, now you know why.  (It's because Pipex are incompetent morons.)

More importantly, I heard DJ Rubbish's Armageddon Session Volume 2 last weekend.  The hype starts here, if you like Rubbish you're in for a real treat.  I dunno when it's coming out, but I'll let you know soon and I'll also see if I can get us a little preview to put on the myspace player.  R-R-RUBBISH!

Howdy partners.

We've recently finished doing a piece for a party crew called GrecoRoman.  It's an intro for a mix cd they're releasing I think.  To be honest I don't know much about it, Barry sorted out all the details, by which I mean he phoned up, pissed out of his mind, called us both pricks and told us to do something about geckos and trojans, pronto.

Anyway, you can hear the end result on GrecoRoman's page.  They're one of our top friends, the one with the olympic flag picture.  Oh, and Barry wants me to say that we'd be bang up for similar commissions.  You'd like that, wouldn't you Barry?  Yeah?  Well where's our money for this one, eh?  We're not going to edit another word until you've sent us our bloody money, alright?

They say never work with children or animals, and frankly Barry is a bit of both.