Ah, yes, winding down amid the holiday stress and mess -- doesn’t that sound like the ticket?

Kontrol honcho Greg Bird tipped me to his upcoming event, “Afterglow,” a first-Sunday, evening-after get-together at Nickie's that he describes as “bone-crushingly mellow” with an emphasis on chill sounds that don’t fit into the usual dust-up on dancefloor: ambient, deep house, downtempo, dreamy drum ‘n’ bass, dub techno, future jazz, IDM and other less-than-definable genres.

All of which will give some multitalented DJs a chance to drill down into their collections and find those neglected, freeform gems by such artists as Boards of Canada, Junior Boys, Prefuse 73, Herbert, Portishead, DJ Shadow, Brian Eno, Aphex Twin, Mogwai, Autechre, Sutekh, Ulrich Schnauss and Can.

This month’s special guests all hail from the Auralism Records camp: Jason Short, Clint Stewart, and Roman Stange. Also expect residents Matt Wilder, Mike Perry and Bird himself. Get a taste of the sets at past events here: www.afterglowsf.com/music. And, hey, it’s all free.

“Afterglow” is Sunday, Dec. 6, and every first Sunday, 9 p.m.-1 a.m., at Nickie’s, 466 Haight St., SF. Free. (415) 255-0300, www.afterglowsf.com