NEW YEAR'S EVE

Given the personnel involved, Volta Bureau hasn’t had trouble getting local press since announcing its existence last spring. But one thing has been noticeably absent from most of the media coverage: a description of what these dudes sound like that’s a bit more precise than “supergroup.” (The trio includes popular local DJs and producers Will Eastman, Micah Vellian, and Outputmessage.) That slipperiness is surely to their credit, but let me take a stab anyway. Volta Bureau makes house music gone slightly hypnagogic. The songs’ skeletons are minutely academic, maybe even conservative, but they all eventually take a nostalgic, fuzzed-out trip to no era in particular. But this isn’t Ariel Pink for house lovers, because Volta Bureau’s dance anthems always stay grounded. That’s mostly thanks to Outputmessage’s vocals, a synthpop deadpan, plus, in some cases, live instrumentation that brings a little danger to the live set. Super. Volta Bureau DJs a New Year’s Eve party at 9 p.m. with Lxsx Frxnk at 9:30 Club Backbar, 815 V St. NW. $10. (Jonathan L. Fischer)

For more options, check out our New Year's Eve listings.

NEW YEAR'S DAY

Called the “Queen of Ethiopian Music,” Aster Aweke has performed to stadium-size crowds in her country, but for a period in the 1980s, she lived here, in exile, and played local restaurants several times a week. Between 1989 and 1991, she had a major-label deal with Columbia Records, who promoted her records to a “world music” audience, then dropped her from the roster. But her subsequent releases on Ethiopian and Ethiopian-American labels cemented her fanbase, and she went on to play a triumphant homecoming concert in Addis Ababa in 1997. Now in her 50s and living in Ethiopia, the vocalist has released her 23rd album (2010’s Checheho) and a slate of recent singles. Her relevance remains intact, particularly on her understated version of the ballad “Tizita,” and her newest cut, the flashier “Ye-inëta.” Over upbeat keyboards, Aweke joyously flaunts her vocal range and melds muezzin-like Ethiopian scales with African-American rhythm and blues. Tonight, anticipate a loyal crowd that’s stuck around since her days of wowing audiences at D.C. restaurants. Aweke performs with Dawit Melese Sunday at 11:45 p.m. at DC Star. $35 in advance, $40 at door. (Steve Kiviat)

THE DAY AFTER NEW YEAR'S DAY

The Vienna New Year’s concert is a lavish, legendary event. Every year, classical fans gather in the Austrian capital and tune in from around the world to hear one of Europe’s finest orchestras ring in the new year with a mix of waltzes, polkas, and czárdás. But around here, the closest thing we get to a Viennese New Year is off the Orange Line, with a plate of waffles at Amphora. That’s where “Salute to Vienna” comes in. The traveling show puts on aneujahrskonzert in 16 cities across North America, using local musicians backed by Austrian dancers, singers, and conductors. D.C.’s version of the Vienna Philharmonic will be led by Alexander Steinitz, featuring soprano Rebecca Nelsen and tenor Thomas Sigwald. The Vienna Imperial Ballet, whose misleading name suggests a legacy dating back to the Habsburgs—it was actually founded in 2003—will provide the visual flair, along with champion ballroom dancers. Expect a Strauss-heavy program including “The Blue Danube,” “Radetzky March,” and more pieces that made that other Vienna famous. Tuesday at 3 p.m. at the Music Center at Strathmore. $49-$95. (Mike Paarlberg)

Photo of Dan Zak by Jonathan Pushnik.

I am sure the U Street Corridor on up to Adams Morgan will be jam-packed with party goers this New Year’s Eve. For folks looking for a bit less congestion and authentically funky good time that won’t break your pockets, then the “Soul Train” New Year's Eve 2012 party at Ras Hall is just what you are looking for.

Sister Zurii Conroy tipped me off a few weeks back that she was working something special for New Year’s Eve at Ras Hall. She mentioned specifically she was interested in having a funk music party. A real one, where folks could come and let it all loose on the dance floor like we used to do back in the day—as "One Nation Under a Groove."

No show in television history promoted funk, soul, and R&B music to the world masses like Don Cornelius’ Soul Train. It’s the longest-running nationally syndicated show in history, with over 1,000 episodes broadcast between 1971 and 2006. As a kid, I remember waiting for Soul Train to come on Channel 20. Thinking back on it, I think my favorite part of the show were the dancers! The way they would move to the music was incredible. On the dance floor everyone looked GOOD! The fellas were fly and the ladies were smoking hot. Each episode, the Soul Train line was what everyone looked forward to. I don’t think anyone who has ever seen Soul Train can forget the sexy Asian sister with the smoking dance moves who was a staple on the show. In fact, if you wanted to learn how to dance, you would watch Soul Train. Then, once perfected, you would show up with your people at the party and show the funk off.

Sister Zurii wants you to get on that very same Soul Train with her to help ring in the New Year. She wants you to know, "This party is for anyone who's looking to do something new, different, and festive (& easy on the pockets) for their New Year!" The Soul Train New Year’s Eve 2012 party features D.C.’s own DJ RBI in charge of making you move on the dance floor—spinning a range of styles from different funk eras (classics, hip-hop, soul, reggae, house). There will be catering (Ras’ cuisine is DELICIOUS!), drink specials, and a champagne toast at midnight to ring in 2012 in the spirit of Love, Peace, and Soul!

Soul Train/70’s Attire is recommended!

Soul Train New Years Eve 2012 bash begins 9pm this Saturday at Ras Hall, 4809 Georgia Ave. NW. $15/advance. Click here for more info.

That doom, though, she reserves for the deep cuts on her excellent LPs. In concert, Jones sticks to the script, and the script—on New Year's Eve especially—calls for free champagne and bass-lines that don't walk so much as hustle. Stand far enough front, and the woman who boasts that her legs are "half as long as Tina Turner's" will drag you onstage by the scruff of your neck and teach you the art of the hip-shake while skewering you with a rendition of "What Have You Done For Me Lately?" Stand far enough back, and you'll see more mating rituals than a David Attenborough TV special. Jones and the 'Kings tend to have that effect on an audience—and this groove, after all, was made for you and me.

SHARON JONES PERFORMS WITH FITZ & THE TANTRUMS AT THE 9:30 CLUB, 815 V ST. NW. (202) 265-0930. 9 P.M. DOORS.  $55

About halfway through a Robert Randolph concert, the slide wunderkind kicks his chair back, throws his feet in the air, and starts spinning. This is the cue for the rest of the band to go into double time, and—if it's 12:01 a.m. on New Year's day—it's the cue for three million females to teeter onstage for the dubious privilege of having champagne sprayed at them. For a brief moment, the 9:30 Club feels like Cancun in mid-March: the jam disintegrates, replaced by awkward, arrhythmic dancing.

Then the ladies evacuate and the Randolphs get back to putting on the best live show in the country.

I've waxed rhapsodic about these guys before—when Randolph & Fam. played Nissan Pavilion, I was there—but the New Year's show was less about the peak than about the sustain. (They played for two and a half hours. Which is, literally, five times the duration of their "we're opening for...Switchfoot?" set in September.) Wednesday's band was uncharacteristically glutted with guitarists—two in addition to Randolph, one of whom helped on the keys in the unusual absence of Jason Crosby—an unnecessary overcrowding, but then the Randolphs have always been about, you know, inclusion. Danyel Morgan, Robert's funkier-than-Jesus bassist-cousin, led a typically frenetic workout on "I Need More Love" (celebrating shortly thereafter with a sizable blunt). And if his voice sounded a bit the worse for wear, his stratospheric croon never slips too far below mindblowing.

The group covered Erykah Badu & the Roots ("You Got Me"), riffed on Michael Jackson ("Rock with You"), and closed with a nice medley of "Whole Lotta Love," "Ain't Nothin' Wrong with That," and "Voodoo Chile." Is it a constant struggle for Robert Randolph not to turn every song into "Voodoo Chile"? Yes, and the strain's starting to show. But heavens to Betsy it's a small price to pay.

Photograph above: The ladays swarm Randolph at midnight. Courtesy of Aaron Wiener.

The Dirty Projectors weren't in DC this New Years, but I followed them to Manhattan where they played an all-star show curated by Akron/Family. What better way to usher in 2009 than with Dave Longstreth's prowling stage presence and oscillating vibrato?

This was a special night for the Knitting Factory since it marked the last show at its TriBeCa location. The venue is slated to reopen in a smaller space in Williamsburg, Brooklyn (hint: the venue's target audience are not Hasidic Jews). Most of the Manhattanites I talked to didn't sound too bummed, chiming that the move was almost inevitable since The Burg is the epicenter of all things hip and young. Hopefully The Dirty Projectors make a stop in our town soon. But here are some photos and an mp3 from the show to hold you over for now.

(Click on photos to view them in better quality)

Dirty Projectors – Rise Above (Live at Knitting Factory)