Ron Sexsmith

What's Happening Bob Carlisle's "Butterfly Kisses" remains on top of the pop album sales charts--but just barely. Carlisle's album sold 124,000 copies last week according to SoundScan, due largely to the widespread airplay of the title song, which traces a little girl's progression from infancy to womanhood from her father's perspective. The Spice Girls' "Spice" finished second, just 2,000 albums behind. Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs' duet with Faith Evans, "I'll Be Missing You," holds the No.

Just after a summer that gave us some of the best young bands in ages, including the White Stripes, the Hives, the Vines and Trail of the Dead, what's more fitting than a fall highlighted by two of the '60s forces that inspired them?

Don't feel alone if pop music seemed unusually anonymous to you over the last 12 months. It was bad enough that so many records sounded alike in a year dominated by generic hip-hop and ska beats, but it was often hard to even keep the names of the acts themselves straight. Who did that song on the radio again? Was it the Verve or the Verve Pipe? . . . 311 or 112? . . . LSG or MJG? . . . Aqua or the Aquabats? . . . Hurricane G or Hurricane #1 . . . Sister Hazel or Uncle Sam?

Bob Dylan's greatest gift to pop culture has long been seen as his role in teaching rock 'n' roll to think, making the music more than a limited teen delight. But it's possible that an even greater contribution was bringing the singer-songwriter tradition into the pop mainstream. It's a breakthrough that is paying welcome dividends this fall, a season packed with winning new albums from an array of valuable artists, including Beck, Steve Earle, India.Arie, Rhett Miller and Ron Sexsmith.

Much of the most-prized music these days is housed in big rooms, whether it's the massive Staples Center or its still-large baby brother Nokia Theatre, but there was a time in the late '60s and early '70s when the best music was frequently showcased in small rooms -- the rootsy Ash Grove on Melrose, the honky-tonkish Palomino on Lankershim and, above all, the folk-oriented Troubadour on Santa Monica.

Michael Bublé "Crazy Love" (Reprise) In a release introducing Grammy-winning vocalist Michael Bublé's new album, he is mentioned in the same sentence as a choirboy, Elvis and Louis Armstrong. Curious company, but when an artist sells roughly 20 million CDs worldwide, there can be a sense of becoming, musically, all things to all people. Though it takes a bit of straining to hear all the above references on the Canadian crooner's latest collection, its mix of brassy standards and tastefully done originals from the world of jazz and pop will give those familiar with Bublé's work pretty much exactly what they want.

Staind is certainly leaving its mark on the national sales chart. The Massachusetts metal quartet's "Break the Cycle" claims the No. 1 spot on the album list for the third consecutive week by selling almost 245,000 copies last week. That was enough to withstand a strong challenge by Radiohead, whose "Amnesiac" entered the chart at No. 2 Wednesday by selling 231,000 copies, according to SoundScan.

Lilith has left the building. But her three rewarding and influential years advancing the careers of scores of female pop and rock musicians opened a door of opportunity that four of her younger sisters are about to walk through. In fact, a new tour dubbed the Girls Room, which features a rotating lineup of singer-songwriters Tara MacLean, Shannon McNally, Amy Correia and Kendall Payne, was born at a Lilith Fair show last summer outside Boston.

Another rush of rock albums, including collections by Sweden's Hives and Texas' ... And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, highlights the latest installment of Calendar's guide to keeping up with what's noteworthy in pop on an album budget of $50 a month. March The Hives' "Your New Favourite Band," Poptones import. They're fresh. They're fun. They're new (to the U.S.). They're Swedish. They're fab.

India.Arie The first time most pop fans heard of Arie was when the 26-year-old Atlanta resident picked up seven Grammy nominations in January, pitting her against the more widely known Alicia Keys in six categories, including best album and best new artist. Arie (her real name is India Arie Simpson) was shut out in the balloting, but the nominations reflected the music industry's respect for her debut album, "Acoustic Soul," and she felt pressure to live up to all that.