I am Kyle's self-indulgence

Click the links for streaming music courtesy Lala.com

10. Where Is The Line - Björk
A fascinating song from Medúlla, the album Björk recorded almost entirely from human voices. The album loses my interest about halfway through, which is why it didn't make my top ten of the decade list, but this song is spectacular.

9. Seven Nation Army - The White Stripes
This is perfect songwriting at its simplest: seven notes repeated with minor variations for just under four minutes. It's catchy and immediately unforgettable, yet it never grows old.

8. Did I Step On Your Trumpet? - Danielson
It's impossible for me to listen to this without a big smile on my face.

7. The Man Comes Around - Johnny Cash
Probably my favorite Cash song of all time. He didn't write very many original songs for his American Recordings, but the ones he did are amazing.

6. The Day After Tomorrow - Tom Waits
A very sad anti-Iraq war song from the point of view of an American soldier, it's probably the most beautiful bit of anti-war protest to emerge out of that period.

5. John Wayne Gacy, Jr. - Sufjan Stevens
Leave it to Sufjan Stevens to write a song about an infamous serial killer in a way that makes him seem sad, fragile, and utterly human. This is folk music at its best.

4. She Don't Own Me - Micah P. Hinson
This one incredible song just stopped me dead one day and inspired me to buy Hinson's complete studio albums. I still hang on every note whenever I hear it.

3. Hold On To Yourself - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
I feel like I'm getting redundant. There are only so many ways you can say that a song is so beautiful in its melancholy that it makes you want to weep (okay, maybe not weep, but you get the idea).

2. The National Anthem - Radiohead
Hey, look! It's an upbeat, energetic song that doesn't make you want to lay down and cry! This was my favorite song off Kid A the first time I heard it, and it still is. I love everything about this: the driving bass and drums, the distorted vocals, the chaotic horn section. It's also amazing live.

1. Enthusiasm For Life Defeats Internal, Existential Fear - The Flaming Lips
The studio recording is not available on Lala.com or anywhere else that I can find, so you may have to download it to hear it (it's available on this compilation, but I wouldn't recommend getting the whole CD unless you're a hardcore fan). This song is the perfect mix of unflinching optimism with just the barest hint of melancholy that makes The Flaming Lips so loveable. The lyrics are remarkably simple but deeply moving.

Last night I had a horrible dream
But the dogs barking in the morning
Came and chased it all away

Last night I had a horrible dream
But the sunrise in the morning
Came and burned it all away

Last night I had a horrible dream
But your smile in the morning
Came and took it all away.

Here you can see a rare performance at the Pitchfork Music Festival:

And here they are playing it live in studio: