Another unique voice gone. Ronnie Drew died today (which also happens to be the 31st anniversary of Elvis’s death) in Dublin after a long illness.

The Guggenheim Grotto are a Dublin-based trio who have flexed most of their promotional muscles to date in the United States.

Aside from hugely positive reviews from the US print media for their Waltzing Alone debut album, the band have also enjoyed placements on a rake of TV shows, including Brothers & Sisters, One Tree Hill and Men in Trees.

What’s helped their cause Stateside is important radio support from such taste-maker shows and DJs as Nic Harcourt at Morning Becomes Eclectic on the Santa Monica-based KCRW and David Dye at Philadelphia’s WXPN.

The band release their second album, Happy the Man, in September and play Irish dates throughout September and October.

Ten Speed Racer’s Pat Barrett is now operating as The Hedge Schools and releases the Joe Chester-produced “Never Leave Anywhere” album on October 10.

Fiddle-player with The Frames and Swell Season, Colm Mac Con Iomaire releases his lovely debut solo album “The Hare’s Corner” on September 5.

Fujiya & Miyagi’s plug new album “Light Bulbs” with September shows at Cork’s Cyprus Avenue (19), Dublin’s Spiegeltent (20) and Belfast’s Stiff Kitten (21).

David Holmes launches his new album “The Holy Pictures” at Dublin’s Pogo on September 20. Video for “I Heard Wonders” follows

Musos seeking a dig-out for recording or performance projects should check out Music Network’s funding schemes, details of which were announced this week. Closing date for applications is October 6.

New York punk-funk pioneers Liquid Liquid play Dublin’s Tripod on October 5th, one of just two European shows for the band. Domino has just released Slip in and Out of Phenomenon, a fantastic set of their greatest grooves.

Tickets go on sale today for US house kingpin Danny Tenaglia’s date at Dublin’s Tripod on September 19th.

Riley, the DJ who does the show after me on Phantom on Saturday nights, is a great man for blowing the dust off CDs you’d half-forgotten about. A while back, it was Into Paradise’s “Churchtown” album which made for some nostalgia-tinged memories. Last Saturday, he arrived into the studio brandishing a copy of “Live for Ireland”, the album released after the Self-Aid love-in in May 1986. Sadly, a bit like the notion behind the concert itself, few of the performances have stood the test of time. But 22 years ago, every Irish musician of note who could hold an instrument in their hands converged on the RDS in Dublin to “highlight and help the unemployed”, to quote the sleeve-notes.

We were much more innocent in those days before the country became the republic of leisure it has been for the decade or so. Back then, the notion of having an all-day concert to come up with money and jobs for the unemployed was one to which many people subscribed.

Besides the concert at the RDS featuring the great, the good and the Cactus World News, there was also a RTE telethon where jobs and cash could be donated by the general public. If you had a spare job going in your office, hotel or shop, you could ring up the national broadcaster and they would add it to the total. The belief was that performances by U2, Paul Brady, Thin Lizzy, Scullion, Chris Rea (honourary Irishman back then), Christy Moore, Chris De Burgh (if your name was Chris, apparently, you were in), the Pogues, Bagatelle and The Fountainhead would encourage people to stand up, grab the phone and find jobs under their beds.

Shake your head now at such nonsense, but a couple of thousand jobs of one kind or another were plucked out of thin air. Whether these jobs actually came about as a result of the event or even produced long-term employment is a moot point. As we saw with events like Live 8 and Live Earth, rock extraganzas don’t solve economic, political or environmental problems, but are excellent opportunities for acts to use TV coverage to give their own releases a promotional boost.

Hey, now there’s an idea. Maybe we need a Self Aid 2 to help a ton of new Irish acts flog some of those CDs and paid-for downloads they’re having problems shifting? You could always use the idea that a big ol’ concert would help to re-address the economic downturn which is just around the corner. I’m sure one of the mobile phone companies would be happy to come onboard with some sponsorship love (Self Aid - Make The Most of Now sounds like a good tag to me). Any takers? Or am I opening a can of worms here?

It’s already been a bumper year for Irish albums, with notable releases from Gemma Hayes, Chequerboard, Republic Of Loose, Crayonsmith and Jape.

Others to add to that list in the coming weeks and months include the much talked about - and blogged about - Carly Sings, who releases her debut album The Glove Thief on June 6th.

Not all Dublin singer- songwriters sit on the folky fence and alt-pop activist Conor Furlong releases his Eternal debut album on May 30th.

Expect to see Lisa Hannigan’s debut finally making an appearance in 2008 as well. She’ll be roadtesting songs from that set on her summer-long tour, which kicks off in Cork’s Cyprus Avenue on June 6th.

The Flaws were one of the brightest sparks in the class of 2007. A band who refused to let record-label incompetence stand in their way, they released their fine debut album, Achieving Vagueness, under their own steam.

Today sees the release of a new single, Out Tonight, followed by a bout of gigging, including appearances at the Glastonbury, Castle Palooza, Indie Pendence and Electric Picnic festivals.

However, they start off this run in a venue with a roof on it, in an all-ages show at Dundalk’s Spirit Store tomorrow afternoon.

Those seeking a taster for David Holmes’s forthcoming album should check out the new compilation from the Oh Yeah music centre in Belfast.

Holmes has contributed a new track, McCready Rides Again, to the Oh Yeah Sessions ‘08 release.

The compilation also features tunes from the hotly tipped In Case of Fire, The Jane Bradfords, Kowalski, Panama Kings and others. Eight of the tracks were recorded at Oh Yeah’s in-house studio.

A Friday or two ago, I went to see the Republic of Loose during their residency at Dublin’s Academy. I’d heard great things about the new album (the first tune from it, “I Love Music” is a winner) and I’d seen them back in January in Groningen, but the home turf is always more of a test.

It was a hell of a show. For a start, watching the audience was almost as entertaining as what was happening onstage. That floorshow was a flotsam and jetsam of Dublin past, present and future: apprentice chancers from a decade ago who’ve now graduated to prize chancers, a couple of multi-millionaires, a pair of weather-beaten poets, a future TD for Dublin South, contestants from Terenure’s Next Top Model, a few Italian wideboys who kept admiring each other’s perfectly sculpted sideburns, three Nigerian body-builders and at least 67 twentysomething first-jobbers with large credit card debts.

The real action, though, was happening onstage. Few acts can match the Loose when it comes to firing up funky riffs, chunky breaks and stone-cold infectious verse-chorus-verse bits all night long. They don’t look it, but they’re the house band at the Apollo on an alternative univese.

But best of all, they’ve a show-stealing frontman in Mick Pyro. Channelling in fairly equal measure the spirits of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, James Brown, Brendan Grace, Solomon Burke, Joe Dolan and LL Cool J, Pyro cajoled, provoked, teased, screamed, shouted, stomped and flirted away for the entire set. Any time the show was on the verge of flagging, Pyro would intuitively stoke up the atmosphere again. He was putting the “show” in “showbusiness” that night for sure.

For any long-time Loose watchers, the most noticable thing about the show was that Pyro was as sober as a disctrict court judge on his way to an all-night poker game. Now and then, Pyro would take a swig from a bottle of beer, but he wasn’t as messy or unfocused as we’ve seen him at previous shows. He was sharp, on point, rolling with it. The two facts may well be related.

The drink made an appearance in Neil Dunphy’s fine interview with the band in the Sunday Tribune. Dunphy realised that Pyro’s battle with the bottle had as much to do with the band and new album “Volume IV: Johnny Pyro and the Dance of Evil” as the music which inspired the songs.

Pyro certainly had no problems with Dunphy’s questions:

“Look, I have no problem admitting I’m an alcoholic. I gave up for a year and then fell off the wagon.”

There’s a song on the new album about it, titled ‘Poquito’. “It’s true, yeah. It’s about me falling off the wagon. Trying to describe that feeling. I’m not drinking spirits anymore.”

Is he aware where it all could go? “Well I’m aware of where it is. I drink too much. I have a problem with alcohol. I have to stop, but I need time off to do it. I don’t buy into a lot of the psychology on it, though. If I thought what I was doing was making my art suffer, I wouldn’t do it. I’m trying. I’m taking it pretty easy just drinking beer. I was pretty scared of making some of the music we are making, even the hip-hop on the new album. But you have to listen to yourself. I can be pretty cynical of people telling me what to do or that what I’m doing is wrong.”

Most of the new album was written while Pyro was on the wagon for the year. “I don’t think alcohol has anything to do with creativity, ” he says. “I get very anxious sometimes in social situations and it can help you then, but in terms of writing songs, drink is nothing but a hindrance. I was drunk writing ‘Comeback Girl’, but then maybe that’s why it’s a repetitive hit.”

Whatever about the ease with which Irish society as a whole self-medicates with alcohol for all that ails them, musicians have a much more complex relationship with drink. At work and play, alcohol is there at every single turn. They’re probably playing in a licensed premises so it’s available before the show and after the show. It’s probably on the posters advertising the gig too in the shape of the ubiquitous sponsorship from some drinks company or other and it’s on the rider in the dressingroom too. Like every other sector in society, some handle it fine while others, well, just don’t handle it at all and go off the rails.

It’s the same when it comes to admitting there’s a problem. Some do and some prefer to keep up the illusion that life is A-OK. They maintain the bravado, sink a couple of pints and play Jack-the-lad rather than admit this drug has taken over their life to the extent that they can’t function without it.

But as Pyro showed, that belief is a bit of a fake. He points out in the Tribune interview that being off the drink didn’t have any detrimental effect on his songwriting for the new album, which is probably their finest work to date. And, on the basis of that Academy show a few weeks ago, it has been nothing but beneficial for his mojo as a frontman either.

Anyone else surprised to learn that there are still tickets on sale for Oxegen? Isn’t Oxegen supposed to be the festival which sells out in a couple of hours because the kids love it so much and even get to pick the line-up? Have the kids bualked at those ticket prices? Have they said “meh” to the fact that REM are on the bill? Or have they decided to travel to a festival in Europe instead?

5.30pm UPDATE Press release tells me that “3 day weekend camping and 4 day weekend camping tickets along with Day tickets for Saturday 12th July have sold out”, but “a very limited number of 3 day (no camping) tickets and day tickets fo rFriday 11th and Sunday 13th July are available at this time.” All of which means, I suppose, that there are still tickets on sale for the festival.

If you haven’t done so already, read this fantastic post by Naomi Off Her Rocker about the real Irish underground scene. This is the kind of piece which should be on the cover of Hot Press and not Michael “trust me, our new album is really better than our last album and you have to buy it because we need the money and we’re still relevant and we got your man Jacknife Lee to produce the yoke and we’re playing Oxegen and did I tell you that I know Helena Christensen and Bono” Stipe. Hey, it could be the give-a-Stipe-a-kick week on the blog all week long to celebrate the release of their new album.

Footnote to the debate which raged last week on this blog about Irish music magazines: we are not alone. Former NME writer Stephen Dalton looks at the current state of the magazine he once called home.

And a footnote of sorts to the other debate about that Top 40 Irish Albums poll, here’s Mark Edwards explaining why music critics love albums that the public hate.

Bet the millennials won’t be buying music magazines. Or CDs.

Good to see Andrew’s Lane Theatre back on the event listings for the capital city. The theatre was closed down and sold last year for €9.25 million, but it now seems to be operating again as a venue. Forever Presents are promoting Crystal Castles at the venue on April 22 (they also play Cork’s Cyprus Avenue on 21 and Belfast’s Stiff Kitten on 23) and Foggy Notions have Why? playing there on April 26.

Can a music festival really be eco-friendly?

And finally, do you want a Tenori-On in your life? Here’s Four Tet’s Kieran Hebden having a go. Note superfluous subtitles.

The list of albums which were voted for but didn’t make The Ticket’s Top 40 Irish Albums Of All Time are now online, while comments from a selection of the readers on the poll are here.

In this week’s Ticket, we’ve counted down the Top 40 Irish Albums of All Time as voted for by the paper’s rock music writers.

No doubt, readers will be surprised and shocked as they go through the Top 40. The process was simple - the rock writers sent in their Top 40 lists, the votes were counted, the results were tallied and a list of 40 emerged. Remember, these are the 40 best Irish albums, as chosen by our rock critics. If they choose to include a trad or jazz album, then that’s their choice.

Now, your turn. What albums did we overlook? What albums should not be in the Top 40? Is My Bloody Valentine’s “Loveless” really the best Irish album of all-time or do you think it should have been Enya? Let the fuming begin.

Una has a link to a new Eyebrowy video plugging this dodgy competition.

In case anyone has forgotten, here’s the post where we went through the competition, step by step, and pointed out a couple of very iffy aspects to the whole thing.

There has been a huge response to this post, although most of the comments have come via email rather than the blog. Obviously, some people are reluctant to publicly criticise an event which stars such luminaries as Universal Music, Hot Press and Phantom FM. We, though, have no such scruples.

Believe it or not, there is musical life after a spell in a boy band.

Mark Sheehan and Danny O’Donoghue are former members of My Town, the Irish boy band who signed a huge record deal in the 1990s and released a debut album co-produced by Teddy Riley, but who failed to set the world alight.

Sheehan and O’Donoghue, along with Glen Power, are now The Script, a band signed to RCA Records who are receiving a lot of attention thanks to their We Cry track, with BBC Radio 1 and music industry magazine Record of the Day tipping the band for bigger things.

The Script are currently touring Britain supporting The Hoosiers.

Kudos to the Meteor Ireland Music Awards organisers for deciding to honour music promoter Jim Aiken at tonight’s event, with a posthumous Industry Award.

Aiken was the former schoolteacher who put this country on the international touring map, bringing in such acts as Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones and Garth Brooks.

One of most experienced and respected promoter in Europe, Aiken died in February 2007 after a short illness.

His family will presented with the award at the show at Dublin’s RDS tonight.

Strange how so many breaking news sources (including our own and RTE) have overlooked one Irish nomination for this year’s Oscars. Something else for the man himself to fume about. No wonder he’s turning into Van Morrison….

But enough with the churlishness. Congrats to Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova for getting a nomination for Best Song for “Falling Slowly” from Once.

UPDATE Both news stories above have now been updated to include the Once nomination.

Thanks to the long-standing involvement of 2FM producer Ian Wilson, there is always an Irish element to Eurosonic.

Wilson ensures that the much-maligned station pays for a couple of bands to travel to Holland each year and also broadcasts their performances from the festival.

This year, 2FM was represented by Cathy Davey and Republic of Loose, while two other Irish acts, Si Schroeder and Halves, also played at the festival.

There were healthy crowds to see all four acts; Cathy Davey and Republic of Loose were particularly impressive.

It begs the question why other organisations and bodies are not following 2FM’s lead in making the most of Eurosonic as a promotional opportunity.

For example, the festival could be an ideal way for new government agency Culture Ireland to market the country’s rock and pop sector to a very responsive European audience.

In an era when bands struggle to get to album number two, it’s reassuring to know that some Irish acts continue to stick with the programme and pile on the releases.

Doughty power-pop combo Pugwash will release their fourth album on March 7th.

Eleven Modern Antiquities is the follow-up to 2005’s Jollity album and features contributions from Neil Hannon, XTC’s Andy Partridge, The Section Quartet and others.

Meanwhile, Anyone Who Asks from the band’s second album, Almanac, features on the soundtrack to the Colin Farrell and Ed Norton flick Pride and Glory.

Stuck for a last-minute present for The Ticket reader in your life? Check out blogger Nialler9’s Irish Albums of the Year Top 20 poll and get buying.

While there are problems of accountability with any public poll - Nialler himself points out that 9 of the 20 bands in the final countdown canvassed people to vote for them - it’s a good indicator of those Irish albums worth checking out from the year nearly gone by.

Super Extra Bonus Party topped the poll which also featured high placings for Cathy Davey, Delorentos, Mumblin’ Deaf Ro and Dry County.

Nokia’s favourite Irish music blogger has kicked off his annual Irish albums and EPs poll. Join in the fun right away.