MONDAY: Sweden is a gorgeous country that turns out some of the ugliest music. Marduk is one of the most hideous examples — and that's a huge compliment. The black-metal band's 11th album-length assault, "Wormwood," is filled with bleak and powerful ragers with happy-go-lucky titles such as "Chorus of Cracking Necks." It all may seem kinda silly, but just wait till the first double-bass-drum blast caves in your chest. Welcome to the dark side, True Believer.
Witness some of Marduk's sonic blasphemy after the jump.
» Sonar, 407 E. Saratoga St., Baltimore, Md.; with Nachtmystium, Mantic Ritual, Merrimack, Tyrant's Hand, Mon., Nov. 23, 7 p.m., $18; 410-783-7888
Photo courtesy SureShotwork
THURSDAY:
» DJ Guetta, Thu., Nov. 19, Fur, Northeast D.C.
FRIDAY:
» Wine and Cheese Party, Fri., Nov. 20, Alliance Francaise, Northwest D.C. (Dupont Circle)
» "Close to the Edge," Fri., Nov. 20, Black Cat, Northwest D.C. (U St.-Cardozo)
SATURDAY:
» "Yours Ever," Sat., Nov. 21, Politics and Prose, Northwest D.C. (Van Ness)
» "Handmade Nation," Sat., Nov. 21, Renwick Gallery, Northwest D.C. (Farragut West)
» Anorak, Sat., Nov. 21, ArtDC/Lustine Center, Hyattsville, Md.
» Apothecary Museum Tour, Sat., Nov. 21, Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum, Alexandria.
SUNDAY:
» Heavy Trash, Sun., Nov. 22, DC9, Northwest D.C> (U St.-Cardozo)
» WWE Wrestling, Sun., Nov. 22, Verizon Center, Northwest D.C. (Gallery Place)
MONDAY:
» David Plouffe, Mon., Nov. 23, Sixth and I Synagogue, Northwest D.C. (Gallery Place)
» Orhan Pamuk, Mon., Nov. 23, Museum of Natural History, Northwest D.C. (Smithsonian)
» Marduk, Mon., Nov. 23, Sonar, Baltimore
TUESDAY:
» R. Kelly, Tue., Nov. 24, Constitution Hall, Northwest D.C. (Farragut West)
WEDNESDAY:
» Devendra Banhart, Wed., Nov. 25, 9:30 Club, Northwest D.C. (U St.-Cardozo)
» R. Kelly, Wed., Nov. 25, Constitution Hall, Northwest D.C. (Farragut West)
ONGOING:
» "Much Ado About Nothing," through Nov. 29, Folger Theater, Southeast D.C. (Capitol South)
» "Strange Comfort," through Aug. 8, National Museum of the American Indian, Southwest D.C. (L'Enfant Plaza)
» "Port Authority," through Nov. 22, Writer's Center, Bethesda. (Bethesda)
» "Lost In Yonkers," through Nov. 29, Theater J, Northwest D.C. (Dupont Circle)
» "Angels In America," through Nov. 22, Round House Silver Spring, Silver Spring. (Silver Spring)
» Open Mic, Fridays, Busboys and Poets, Northwest D.C. (U St.-Cardozo)
» European Union Film Showcase, Nov. 5-Nov. 24, AFI Silver, Silver Spring. (Silver Spring)
» "Iconoclash!," through Jan. 8, Goethe-Institut, Northwest D.C. (Gallery Place)
» "Re-Introducing David Goslin," through Nov. 30, Alex Gallery, Northwest D.C. (Dupont Circle)
» "Sound Kapital: Beijing's Music Underground," through Nov. 28, Govinda Gallery, Northwest D.C.
» "Full Circle," through Nov. 29, Woolly Mammoth Theatre, Northwest D.C. (Gallery Place)
» Woven Glass, through Dec. 6, Weisser Gallery, Kensington, Md.
» Joshua Bell, Thu., Sat. and Sun., Nov. 19, 21 and 22, Kennedy Center, Northwest D.C. (Foggy Bottom)
» Mount Vernon Gingerbread House, through Nov. 24, Mount Vernon, Mount Vernon.
» "PacGuy," through Dec. 19, Flashpoint Gallery, Northwest D.C. (Gallery Place)
» "The Fantasticks," through Jan. 3, Lincoln Theatre, Northwest D.C. (U St.-Cardozo)
» Cosmopolitan Chicken Project, through Dec. 31, Conner Contemporary Art, Northeast D.C.
» "As You Like It," through Dec. 20, Shakespeare Theater, Northwest D.C. (Gallery Place)
» "Terra Cotta Warriors: Guardians of China's First Emperor," through March 31, National Geographic Museum, Northwest D.C. (Dupont Circle)
THURSDAY: French DJ and producer Guetta gets the party started at Fur on Thursday night. This sought-after turntablist spins a nonstop set of grooves, beats and vibes that have made him the funkiest guy in France. OK, so there's not a lot of competition, but you get the drift. Tickets are limited, so get there early to shake what ya got.
» Fur Nightclub, 33 Patterson St. NE; Thu., Nov. 19, 9 p.m., $25; 202-842-3401.
Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images
SATURDAY: Improvisatory trio Anorak works with sound, sure, but also texture, atmosphere and history. The Baltimore-based piano-drums-cello outfit joins the D.C. Improvisers Collective for a free-ranging and mind-opening concert at ArtDC on Saturday.
» ArtDC/Lustine Center, 5710 Baltimore Ave., Hyattsville, Md.; Sat., Nov. 21, 8 p.m., pay-what-you-can; artdc.com/art-space.
Photo courtesy Jonathan Morris
SATURDAY: Learn the secrets of potions, powders and elixirs when the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum in Alexandria lets visitors go behind the counter. Saturday's tour through the museum's collection, its building, history and the development of pharmaceuticals from the time of the shop's founding in the 18th century. Behind the Counter tours take place every every third Saturday of the month and include a light breakfast.
» Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum and Gift Shop, 105-107 S. Fairfax St., Alexandria; Sat., Nov. 21, 9 p.m., $25, reservation required; 703-838-4242.
Photo courtesy Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum
SUNDAY: On Sunday, the Verizon Center hosts its third ever pay-per-view event. The Survivor Series features World Wrestling Entertainment excitement kicked up with hometown fervor — WWE star Dave "The Animal" Batista, above, is a D.C. native and one heck of a closely shaved bruiser. He fights Rey Mysterio to the cheers of a local crowd.
» Read our interview with WWE superstar Chris Jericho, who will also be at Survivor Series.
» Verizon Center, 601 F St. NW; Sun., Nov. 22, 7:45 p.m., $30-$300; 800-551-7328. (Gallery Place-Chinatown)
Photo courtesy WWE
SUNDAY: Blues-rock revivalist and self-conscious hipster Jon Spencer started a side project with Matt Verta-Ray that is a metric ton less annoying than Spencer on his own. Heavy Trash is all fun, no ostentatious posing — nasty-minded desert-road psychobilly with a bottle in its jacket and one thing on its mind. Succumb to the sleazy sonic assault at DC9 on Sunday.
» DC9, 1940 9th St. NW; with Elliott Brood, Sun., Nov. 22, 9 p.m., $12; 202-483-5000. (U St.-Cardozo)
Photo courtesy Heavy Trash
ONGOING: Shakespeare's comedies can be a little jarring — when the Greek gods show up, the newbies tune out — but "As You Like It" offers some of the Bard's most famous speeches and most intriguing and three-dimensional female characters.
As with all Elizabethan comedies, there's a lot of cross-dressing, people falling rapidly in and out of love, and similarly ridiculous plot twists.
» Sidney Harman Hall, 610 F St. NW; through Dec. 20, $20- $82; 202-547-1122, Shakespearetheatre.org. (Gallery Place)
MONDAY: We never needed the Nobel committee to tell us Orhan Pamuk was brilliant. But yes, the Turkish author did win the Literature prize two years ago.
He's back with a new novel, "The Museum of Innocence," and he'll tell you about his life and inspiration at the National Museum of Natural History.
» National Museum of Natural History, Baird Auditorium, 10th Street and Constitution Avenue NW; Mon., Nov. 23, 6:45 p.m., $25, students $10; 202-633-3030, Residentassociates.org. (Smithsonian)
Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images
ONGOING: The Chinese emperor Qin Shihuangdi had thousands of life-sized clay figures sculpted to accompany him to the grave — archers, acrobats, you name it.
The rock stars of his tomb, though, are the warriors, and you can see 15 of them in the exhibit "Terra Cotta Warriors: Guardians of China's First Emperor," which opened Thursday.
» National Geographic Museum, 1145 17th St. NW; through March 31, $12, children $6; 202-857-7700, Nationalgeographic.com. (Farragut North)
Photo by Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post
Addison Road