Some live music options for this week.

The adjective “icy” gets thrown around a lot by critics when discussing the Junior Boys. You’ve got to admit, it’s a pretty apt descriptor. Not only are the ‘Boys Canadian, they also craft electro-pop songs that belie their very human obsessions with a cold, near robotic precision. Increasingly, however, the duo has tended toward looser, more organic arrangements, while allowing their lyrics to take on a slinky, almost sinister edge. On their latest full-length, Begone…

FRIDAY: >> It’s Friday the 13th. Scaaary? Nah. We laugh in the face of danger. Or at least, you might if you swing by HR-57 tonight for all the DC Comedy Fest events happening on their stages. We gave you the rundown on the festival yesterday, and we’d especially recommend heading over later on to catch the 11 p.m. Leno-Letterman Audition Highlights, which features some of the fest’s funnier comedians in longer sets than usual….

Call us old fashioned, but we like our year-end backward glances to come after we’re done furiously ripping open presents and before we pop the champagne for New Year’s. Rather than subject you only to what we on the DCist music staff deemed this year’s best and brightest (don’t worry, we’ll do that too), we asked a handful of our favorite local artists what their favorite albums of 2006 were. A lot of great musicians…

FRIDAY: >> The fine folks at the Black Cat are throwing themselves a 13th anniversary party tonight, and bully for them — it can hardly be an argument that the bar and music venue has become a nightlife mainstay for those of us who like our drinks cheap and our juke boxes funky. The convergence of two unlucky symbols (13 and black cats) isn’t lost on the staff, who are encouraging you to go ahead…