As exciting as your holiday family gathering is tedious, Emerald City Soul Club’s Talcum party arrives on Christmas to rescue you from Uncle Norm’s boozy jibber-jabber and Aunt Edna’s flavorless casserole. Praise the lord and pass the ultra-rare 45s! Talcum’s agenda is to get you to swivel your hips to soul music, one uplifting, propulsive 7-inch at a time. ECSC’s DJs are maniacally obsessive about their niche and possess the secret knowledge needed to blast away your Xmas ennui. (Chop Suey, 1325 E Madison St, 324-8005, 9 pm, $5, 21+)

Dave Segal is a journalist and DJ living in Seattle. He has been writing about music since 1983. His stuff has appeared in Gale Research’s literary criticism series of reference books, Creem (when...