As mentioned a few columns back, but worth mentioning again, The Drovers will be playing at The M-shop this Saturday. The “swirly psychedeli-celtic rockers” are giving the masses two shows, beginning at 8 and 11 p.m. So no excuses for missing them.

But if you can’t make it to the all-ages performance in Ames, take note of a road trip opportunity. The band is playing a 19-and-over show at Gabe’s Oasis in Iowa City Friday.

Upcoming Releases

Packed with more pop than a mouthful of RC Cola and Pop Rocks, “International Pop Overthrow” will keep you bopping your head for the rest of the semester.

Del-Fi records recently announced Nov. 3 as the release date for the compilation. The CD features 20 of the 140 bands that appeared at the pop music festival of the same name in Los Angeles last August.

“International Pop Overthrow” includes Evelyn Forever, The Bongos, Double Naught Spies, Jiffipop and The Brown Eyed Susans, all of which radiate a summertime feeling of music that is certain to keep you warm during the cold Iowa winter.

“Meeting People Is Easy,” the title of an upcoming Radiohead tour documentary, is scheduled for release on home video in the U.S. late next January.

The 94-minute flick focuses on “conveying the strange life of a rock group on the road, with the recurring theme reportedly being the vast numbers of people the band meets over the course of their travels,” MTV News reported.

On Nov. 17, Dreamworks records will release three separate albums, each containing a different interpretation of “The Prince of Egypt.”

“Music From the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack” will include performances by Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston. The second CD, “Nashville,” will feature Alabama, Clint Black, Charlie Daniels, Reba and Wynonna. The third interpretation, “Inspirational,” will contain tracks by Boyz II Men, Jars of Clay and DC Talk.

Through the Grapevine

Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder is “lending vocals to Supersuckers’ X tribute album,” reported Mike Magnuson of Rocktropolis. X guitarist Billy Zoom is producing the album, to be released on Devil Doll Records.

Despite having canceled most of his U.K. and European tour dates (due to the fungal infection candida), fans of Tricky will still be able to see him in the U.S. Unfortunately, you will have to travel quite a ways.

The closest Tricky and opener Whale will get to Ames is Chicago. If you are not doing anything during Thanksgiving break, take a trip to the House of Blues on Nov. 26.

Proving that the age of tight spandex/hairspray-rock is not dead, The Offspring have subtly given tribute to Def Leppard by using Def Leppard’s “Rock of Ages” intro in its new single “Pretty Fly.”

“Def Leppard was when I was in high school. You couldn’t avoid it, so definitely I heard it,” lead singer Dexter Holland said in a Rocktropolis interview. “I have to admit that I did like ‘Photograph.”’

Aha! Congrats to Holland for at least admitting a minuscule influence, although hardly significant, of the ’80s on today’s music.

Anywho, “Pretty Fly” is the first single from “Americana,” The Offspring’s fifth record, due out Nov.17. Also that day, a long-form home video will be released under the same name.

For those of you who are fortunate enough to pick up Comedy Central, call up your pals and invite them over tonight at 9 p.m. for “Chef Aid.”

The new South Park episode involves a benefit concert for Chef, who is intertwined in a legal battle with the Capitalist Records company.

The concert includes Sir Elton John and Meatloaf. Columbia Records will release “Chef Aid: The South Park Album” soon.

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Adam Jonas is a freshman in pre-architecture from Ames.