(Shiny Shiny)

www.michaelmillercrusade.com

Awash in a melodic swath of near-psychedelic ether, Michael Miller's I Made You Up teeters between that delicate dream state of newborn refuge and Milky Way haze. From the bitterly saucy, gauzy ire of "Tipsy" to the tempered, joyride-glee of "Carolina Skyline," Miller's unassuming yet gumptious approach places him squarely alongside the likes of troubadours Pete Droge and Steve Forbert but with flecks of Supertramp/Bowie-style transcendental grandeur.

It's no surprise then that I Made You Up boasts an all-star indie cast, with guest appearances from Amy Correia, Pete Yorn, Tracy Bonham and others, plus a Who's Who of LA's finest (Brendan Buckley, Dan Rothchild, Eric Heywood, Patrick Warren, Lyle Workman, Rami Jaffee, Ben Peeler, Stevie Blacke, Adam Zimmon, and Mike Roe). But don't let the SoCal thing fool you. While tracks like "Million Lonely People" allude to Miller's beach roots (think "God Only Knows"), I Made You Up is, thankfully, far and above the current OC-inspired, over-ernest mediocrity that's annoyingly so de rigueur. Instead, Miller pays tribute to the album-as-art with a supremely crafted chunk of sonic history that's easily at the top of my 2009 best-ofs.

Standout Tracks: "Sweetness," "Carolina Skyline," "Million Lonely People" ALEX SUMMERS