In the case of my own 2011 collection, that means more than 2,800 songs representing 250 or so albums, all rumbling around and jostling for position like lotto balls.

It’s not the list I chose, but you know what? It’s not the worst “Best Songs of 2011″ list I’ve seen, either. If it were a radio show, I wouldn’t change the station.

Some of the entries are a bit obscure. Just for giggles, how many of the artists/songs are you familiar with?

1. Rodney Parker & 50 Peso Reward – Atlantic City
2. Donna Ulisse – Black Snake
3. The Kentucky Headhunters – Roll On Little Pretty
4. Willie Nelson – Sixteen Tons
5. Mark W. Lennon – Cold Mountain Steel
6. Robb Strandlund – Loma Linda
7. The Greencards – Tale of Kangario (Reprise)
8. Emma Hill and Her Gentlemen Callers – Gold Stars All Around
9. Jeremy Steding – My Best Tequila (Until Then)
10. Webb Dalton – Love to Ride
11. Willie Nelson – Ramblin’ Fever
12. Angela Easterling – Manifest Destiny
13. Victoria George – Two of Us
14. Kris Gordon – How You Lose a Woman
15. Susan Gibson – Evergreen
16. Ashton Shepherd – Look It Up
17. Sunny Sweeney – Amy
18. Marc Broussard – Yes Man
19. Tony Lucca – Dirt Floor
20. Dave Alvin – Two Lucky Bums

We hope you’re enjoying good times with family and friends, and taking full advantage of one of the few days of the year when it’s socially acceptable to consume your own weight in butter.

Here’s a shot of Christmas here at Country California headquarters.

My grandma lives exactly one full CD, or 80 minutes, away from here. I’m heading over for a visit today, so here’s a mix of recent-ish (some from last year) and upcoming music that’ll keep me company on the road.

I’m posting this because I like to imagine that you care. Please play along.

1. Lover, Lover – Jerrod Niemann (how have I not gotten sick of this yet?)
2. Route 5 Box 109 – Joe Diffie (his bluegrass album has been pushed back to October, but it’s worth the wait)
3. The Shoebox – Chris Young (hard to resist songs with this rolling sort of tempo, especially for driving)
4. Lonely at the Top – Jamey Johnson (Real Jamey Johnson covers Keith Whitley!)
5. Fiddlin’ Around – Dierks Bentley (I think this would make a good single)
6. Heroin Addict Sister – Elizabeth Cook (among the best-written songs of the year)
7. Hello Mary Lou Goodbye Heart – Dailey and Vincent (Grandma likes the Statler Brothers)
8. Branded – Marty Stuart (pretty much a rewrite of “Branded Man,” but still…)
9. Stuck Like Glue – Sugarland (I’ll be sick of it pretty soon)
10. Hesitation Blues – Willie Nelson w/ Asleep at the Wheel (good fun)
11. Corpus Christi Bay – Todd Snider (Snider covers classic Robert Earl Keen)
12. Gettin’ Drunk and Fallin’ Down – Hank III (story of my life… ha, not really)
13. Finer Things – Derek Hoke (it’s impossible to feel bad while listening to this song)
14. You Ain’t Woman Enough – Joey + Rory (bought “This Song’s for You” just to get the bonus track)
15. Get Through the Day – Eleven Hundred Springs (a celebration of the things that keep us getting by, like alcohol and copious amounts of weed)
16. Staying’s Worse Than Leaving – Sunny Sweeney (think it was going to be the lead single at one point)
17. Along the Way – Gary Allan (not sure if I’d like this sung by anyone else, but he sells it)
18. I’ll Have What She’s Having – Reba McEntire (wish she recorded more like this, less like “Turn On the Radio”)
19. Set ‘Em Up Joe – Jamey Johnson (Vern Gosdin!!!)
20. Restless, Ramblin’ Man – Mark Stuart and the Bastard Sons (from last year’s fine Bend in the Road album)
21. Bloody Mary Morning – Mark Chesnutt (one of few Outlaw tracks that made much of an impression)
22. More Where That Came From – Byron Hill (such a cool sound to it)
23. Leavin’ a Lonely Town – Easton Corbin (“hey, isn’t that George Strai…”)
24. In the Gutter Again – Hellbound Glory (yep)

“Last night, Jamey Johnson, Billy Ray Cyrus and Buddy Cannon dropped by to sing songs with Hank,” Cochran’s publicist said in a release, “and this morning the legendary songwriter was surrounded by family and friends when he passed away at his Hendersonville, Tennessee home.”

The family requests that those wishing to honor Cochran make donations to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Foundation. Public and private services are also being planned.

Here’s the trailer for an upcoming Cochran documentary, followed by a clip of Patsy Cline performing what might be his most famous song, “I Fall to Pieces,” written with Harlan Howard.

May he rest in peace.

Happy birthday, Jesus.

I’ll be back with a cider-and-eggnog hangover next week. See you then.

• Contributing to the ongoing Top 100 Albums of the Decade countdown (now entering the Top 20!) over at The 9513. It’s a great read overall, and there are two more blurbs from me in each of the remaining installments, so go get caught up now if you’ve somehow managed to miss it.
• Obsessively tracking the Top 100 Albums of the Decade countdown at Country Universe, bristling at every mention of Underwood and the Flatts. Just kidding (sorta). Great read so far, gang.
• Behind-the-scenes work on other upcoming The 9513 stuff.
• Contributing to The Bird List, whose purpose will become clear in, oh, the next week or so.
• Writing my first ever song parody for Farce the Music, a spoof of “Family Tradition.” Not sure if the end result is any good, but the process gave me a whole new respect for what Trailer does.
• A few silly end-of-year lists and such for this site. Stay tuned!

Please to enjoy a Chris LeDoux interview and music video, followed by a slideshow tribute to Dick Cheney set to the tune of Blue County’s “That’s Cool” (I don’t know why either). God bless Wyoming!

(Explanation: What’s this all about, anyway?)

By the way, Cheney was born in Nebraska, another fine state. With lots of domesticated llamas.

MATT BJORKE ON MUSIC CRITICISM

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I was going to do an article about how cold-hearted music critics write from “an ivory tower of callous snarkiness and backhanded compliments,” then I thought better of it.

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For some reason, I’m still writing about the topic I just claimed to have rejected.

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Rhetorical question? Yes please.

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People like the mainstream, so you shouldn’t criticize it. Because a lot of people like it.

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The mainstream is called the mainstream, not Left-of-Centerville or Backhanded Compliments R Us or… oh look I just said the SH word. I’ll bet you think I’m cool now.

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I like McDonald’s, but not Republicans.

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I don’t like it when people think they know it all.

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People who disagree with my take on country music should pack up and move on. (I think I know it all.)

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I don’t like clever writers, as you might guess from my “Left-of-Centerville” coinage a few paragraphs ago.

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In-depth music coverage offends my sensibilities. Country music doesn’t merit serious discussion.

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Let me wrap up by trying to endear myself to you. Also, let’s throw in a nonsensical (and quite belated) George Bush jab, and one more “ivory tower” reference for good measure.

A few quick points in response:
1) I don’t see much gratuitous meanness in music criticism, and on the odd occasions when it does crop up there’s often reader backlash (especially visible on blogs). As long as the criticism is music-based, I’m all for putting it out there and seeing what people make of it. They are, of course, welcome to reject it.
2) I like discussions, but they don’t just happen by themselves; one opinion emphatically stated often serves as the catalyst. ‘Reviews’ that read like press releases are less likely to get people talking, since they have the appearance of cozying up to the artist rather than trying to engage an audience of discerning music fans.
3) Loving something well means comprehending its weaknesses, so the “love it or leave it” argument doesn’t hold much water for me in relation to a musical genre (or, for that matter, anything else).
4) Country music merits as much thought as people are willing to devote to it. Some of the most important and telling truths about the form hide in “simple little goofy songs” so easily dismissed.

Since Bjorke’s article did not include a comment section, feel free to discuss it here. You’ll probably want to read the full version before doing so.

Need some additional incentive?

Charlie Robison is currently running a contest that will ultimately give one of his Twitter friends a free concert… right in the winner’s own living room. It doesn’t get much more up close and personal than that. The lucky Twitterer will also be able to invite up to 25 friends to the event, so I hope you have a big living room.

Entering is much easier than making a pie:

STEP 1: Go to twitter.com/charlierobison and follow Charlie.

STEP 2: Re-tweet the below message to be entered into the contest (must include #crcontest):
“#crcontest Charlie Robison’s new record out now, RT to win a Living Room Concert. http://bit.ly/4aMvY”

STEP 3: Keep tabs on Charlie’s tweets for the announcement of the winner on September 1, 2009.

I don’t make a habit of posting news, but I figured this bit would also give me the opportunity to remind you that there’s still one autographed copy of Robison’s new album up for grabs in the big giveaway, along with lots of other stuff. Oh, and the first person to reply to this post will get a second entry in that giveaway.