Out of all of the bands inside the Beltway, Food For Animals might just be the only act that’s better known overseas than in the District. The hip-hop/IDM/noise crew has toured Europe multiple times, been written up in U.K. mag The Wire and were listed among the highlights at last year’s CMJ festival by Pitchfork. Yet, all along, they’ve maintained strong ties with D.C., returning time and again to play their distinctive blend of experimental…

>> DC Arts Commission auditions for musicians who’d like to play outside metro stations start tonight, from 5 to 8 p.m. at Metro headquarters, 600 Fifth Street, NW, Washington, DC. >> Check out our Reader, Meet Author feature for a list of cup-runneth-over literary events for tonight. There’s Colin Channer at Vertigo Books, Susan Vreeland at Phillips Collection, Christopher Hitchens at Politics and Prose, and Irvine Welsh at Wonderland. >> The Rock and Roll…

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 >> If you like your electroclash sample-free, head to the 9:30 Club for Liverpool’s Ladytron. $20 >> Not quite sure what to make of it, but the Bodog Battle of the Bands rolls on this Monday and Tuesday at DC9. $15 each night >> The last time Architecture in Helsinki came to the Black Cat, they tested the stage’s human-holding capacity. Though Lambchop and the Tosca String Quartet may have given them a run…