Other articles by Gerald M. Gay:

Remote Controlled : Tucson-linked family to hit the road in NBC reality series Found sound Mr. K's draws raves Remote Controlled : Head to Phoenix area in July for more shots at reality fame Want DJs' tweets? Here's a sampleDancers? But of courseInfectious young mambo project With daughters away, Lorber in Tucson for weekend Jazz Party Original 1974 menu prices at Tucson's Bum Steer today Tucson (but greener) featured on Fox series

Administrative & Professional
Jorgensen Brooks Group
Counselor Mechanical
Komatsu Equipment Co
Resident Field Mechanic Administrative & Professional
Tucson Urban League
CEO/President Finance and Accounting
Charles E. Gillman Company
Accounting Specialist Trades/Construction
RANCHO RESORT
MAINTANANCE POSITION Sales and Marketing
Everready Glass
Sales Reps

The clock is ticking. Three days until the big day, and you have yet to buy a single present for Mom, Dad, your fiance or co-workers.

Time is short, but that doesn't mean you have to settle.

Forgo those tacky ties and impersonal gift certificates this Christmas and try some of these unusual CD titles:

● A number of tribute albums, concerts and television specials have come out to help raise money for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Perhaps none of them hit so close to the heart of Crescent City, however, as "Our New Orleans: A Benefit Album" released last month on Nonesuch Records.

Some of Louisiana's most talented musicians, including Dr. John, BeauSoleil and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, contributed brand-new songs for this album, a survey of the region's musical perspectives.

R&B songstress Irma Thomas and famed N'awlins songwriter and producer Allen Toussaint, both firsthand survivors of Katrina, also have tracks.

● Mighty Sparrow was one of Trinidad's foremost calypso musicians in the 1950s, conveying social commentary through catchy foot-tapping Caribbean rhythms. Thanks to audio engineer and songcatcher Emory Cook, Sparrow lives on in the album "First Flight," released this year by Smithsonian Folkways.

Get up and dance to upbeat songs like "No Doctor No" and "Mad Bomber" while getting a firsthand history lesson on Sparrow's homeland through poignant political prose. As always with Folkways recordings, the album's liner notes are abundantly detailed. Sparrow's own history as well as informational snippets on each song are provided.

● Yerba Buena's sophomore release, "Island Life," keeps things funky with an oddball mix of South Beach party rhythms and humorous lyrics in both Spanish and English.

Led by producer Andres Levin, the Latin-fusion collective — which collaborates with everyone from John Leguizamo to Cuban hip-hop ensemble Orishas on the album — hits listeners with rump-shaking beats under subtle, sexually charged lyrics. "All I want is a bilingual girl / Been looking all around the world / Everybody has to understand that / Two tongues are better than one," sing Levin and others during the chorus for the song "Bilingual Girl."

● Tim O'Brien adapts a bit of the old-timey to his modern-day acoustic sound with "Cornbread Nation," a collection of traditional tunes straight out of the Great American Soundscape. O'Brien's expert fingerplay and vocal conviction on songs like "Moses" and "House of the Rising Sun" will bathe listeners in pure Americana, and his cover of Ray Charles' "Busted" pays proper homage to the now-passed R&B pianist.

"Cornbread Nation" is one of two albums released simultaneously by O'Brien on Sugarhill Records last September.

The second album, "Fiddler's Green," focuses more on his, you guessed it, fiddling skills.

● From the musically rich country of Mali comes the duo Amadou and Mariam, a blind couple with a penchant for lush Afro-Pop rhythms. Like many musicians out of Africa, Amadou and Mariam are well-known in their own part of the world but have only begun to scratch the surface here in the States. Thanks to their latest release, "Dimanche a Bamako," they are well on their way.

One of the driving forces behind the album's popularity is French/Spanish guitarist Manu Chao, who helped produce the album. The release smacks of Chao's musical fingerprints, an eclectic mix of pops and whistles, ear-pleasing guitars and Mariam's soothing lead vocals.

● Brazilian troubadour Seu Jorge first popped onto mainstream America's radar in 2004 playing crew member Pelé dos Santos in the Wes Anderson flick "The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou." This year, the popular South American musician reached new heights in the North American music scene with the album "Cru." Blending contemporary pop with traditional Brazilian samba and soft guitar tracks, Jorge gives a unique perspective on the state of contemporary music in Brazil today. He tops the album off with a decent English rendition of the Elvis Presley song "Don't."

● For those unfamiliar with the amount of quality rock coming out of Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries, "KCRW Sound Eclectico" is a good starter kit. Recorded at radio station KCRW's studios in Santa Monica, Calif., the album includes some of today's most well-known and up-and-coming performers, many of whom have come through Tucson in the past year.

Café Tacuba, Julieta Venegas, Los Lobos, Ozomatli, Kinky and El Gran Silencio all make appearances.