MONDAY

“Gezelligheid” — a Dutch word loosely translatable as “cozy” — is the term Andrew Bird uses to characterize the unique and intimate series of holiday concerts he debuted last December at churches in Minneapolis and his native Chicago. This week, the show comes to D.C. for a three-night stand at the Sixth & I Historic Synagogue, the dramatic architecture and superb acoustics of which should make it an sublime setting for Bird’s captivating, loop-layered solo violin compositions. Julianna Barwick opens tonight and tomorrow night, with Marissa Nadler taking over the supporting slot on Wednesday. Sold out. 8 p.m.

MONDAY >> As much as we’d like to crack whiplash jokes, apparently the joke is on us as thrash metal group Slayer plays the first of two sold-out shows at the 9:30 club (the second is on Tuesday). As one of many sold-out 9:30 club shows this week, we can only suggest Craigslist if you don’t have your ticket to this headbanging extravaganza. 7 p.m. TUESDAY >> Local experimental darlings Hand-Fed Babies, with their unique…

Monday >> Hear the man behind the sound. Don Zientara runs Arlington’s legendary Inner Ear Studio, and has been behind the board for more of this town’s seminal punk records than we can count. But it turns out after all these years that Zientara is also an excellent songwriter in his own right. His 2003 collection of stripped down solo tunes garnered solid reviews, and he is joined by Sentai and Shift tonight at the…

It’s been a while since we brought together some of D.C.’s musical minds. In the name of open forums and discussion, we bring you the third installment of DCist’s Music Roundtable. This time around we asked our panel about the effects of emerging technologies on the music industry. Will record labels become obsolete? Is a proletariat uprising of music fans in our near future? Does MySpace really make a difference? We got some input from…