Despite my lack of writing in 2012, traditions must be respected. Outside of the music itself it was another year where I effectively only listened (and paid) to music from Spotify (some Rdio, etc), and bought a Sonos Play 3 in part to more easily stream Spotify to home speakers. Below are a few of the albums I enjoyed most in 2012, and a Spotify playlist of selected songs from them. This year there was a lot of albums I liked but few I deeply loved.

10. The Shins, Port of Morrow - Their latest felt like a welcome return to the early Shins. "The Rifle's Spiral" and "September" are both solid, but "Simple Song" is the obvious standout. Fantastic song.

9. Sleigh Bells, Reign of Terror - Only a couple tracks, like "Comeback Kid", reach what they nailed on "Treats" but even slowed down their dynamics are great.

8. Metric, Synthetica - They have developed an interesting synth/new-wave-ish sound that keeps it interesting. Not as rocking as "Fantasties" although found its way into regular rotation.

7. Cat Power, Sun - My favorite Cat Power album to date. She's had moments of brilliance in the past and I think this album flows from start to finish.

6. Japandroids, Celebration Rock - It took me a while to get into this album before it clicked. Their energy is infectious. They remind me of what I once loved about Piebald and how they crashed forward.

5. Kanye West presents Good Music, Cruel Summer - I think I have to admit I'm a fan of whatever Kanye puts out. The album has a mix of styles and some of the best lyrics ("I believe there's a god above me / I'm just the god of everything else"). Even features a Ma$e appearance! Oddly one of the duds is the Kid Cudi track which feels recycled.

4. Frank Ocean, channel Orange - Plenty has been written, understandably, about this captivating album. It feels almost sneaky how good it is since it comes in such a smooth package.

3. Electric Guest, Mondo - In reading a few year end round-ups I thought this album deserved better that it received. The Danger Mouse-produced album has his signature style of a mix of throwback and modern production. Bottom line is that it kept my foot tapping and stayed in my head.

2. Cloud Nothings, Attack on Memory - Impressive and solid album throughout, and "Fall In" was my jam for weeks. I would love to see this album performed live, everything has such urgency.

1. Kendrick Lamar, good kid, m.A.A.d city - If Dre likes him, how can I not? Songs like "Backseat Freestyle" and "m.A.A.d city" are amazingly catchy, and the album is surprising in all the best ways when so much of hip hop isn't.

This weekend included software failing because of bugs handling the leap second correctly (thanks tidal friction!) and disrupting many popular sites with it. A single change that feels small was able to shatter what had previously felt so stable.

That property has always fascinated me about software. In one momement software can feel like it is made of steel, silently cranking away. You have the feeling it would work for the next 1,000 years if you went away. (Of course, it wouldn't; software decays.) And in the next moment it is on pieces on the floor. Or you find a bug that makes you question "how did this ever work properly?"

This mixture of strength and fragility don't seem to have a simple analogy in the physically constructed world. Buildings don't abruptly crumble, bridges rarely just fall down. It leads me to think that the sense of solidity is at least partially an illusion. That software is less resilient to change and new conditions than we hope, and is in a world in flux.

In keeping with tradition, here is a quick summary of music I've loved from the past year. In past years I'd used iTunes playcounts as a barometer for my enjoyment but this year I mostly switched to Spotify so have less data to pull from. I published a Spotify playlist of some of the best songs from the albums included.

10. Real Estate, Days - Definitely sleepy but pretty and at its best feels like it is building toward something.

9. Panda Bear, Tomboy - I really like the sound he has developed - this kind of hazy, surf-y atmospheric is a great soundtrack for a certain mood.

8. Holy Ghost!, Holy Ghost! - Fun, synth-fuelded dance-y 80s pop. The best songs are front-loaded on this album.

7. Foo Fighters, Wasting Light - I miss good rock music. This Foo Fighters album feels like a return to their more straight-ahead rock with less interruptions by ballads.

6. Iron & Wine, Kiss Each Other Clean - Continuing his more textured sounds this album from early in the year planted songs like "Rabbit Will Run" in my head.

5. Girls, Father, Son, Holy Ghost - Great album all the way through although the faster, upbeat opening 3 tracks are what I find myself replaying.

4. Foster the People, Torches - Goddamn they wrote a catchy set of songs, and I am not immune.

3. M83, Hurry Up We're Dreaming - Sweeping album made me like it despite how close it comes to sounding like songs from The Breakfast Club.

2. Kanye West & Jay Z, Watch the Throne - It took me a while to get into this album I think because I had such high expectations for it. "Otis" got a lot of attention but it was songs like "Who Gon Stop Me" and "Gotta Have It" that won me over.

1. Bon Iver, Bon Iver - Impressive and haunting album that is strong and cohesive even with the variation he employs.