Loved by some, missed by many – here’s a list of our favorite Mainland albums from 2014. Buoyed by a growing number of livehouses popping up across second and third-tier cities, the rise of online music services like Douban and Xiami, and a new generation that - gasp - is actually paying for music, this year has been an epic year for releases. Last year, we made note of some of 2013's Notable Albums, but this year we're taking the plunge and listing our Top 25. Feel free to send all love and/or complaints to arts@urbanatomy.com (preferably love), or better yet, comment below about what albums you think we missed. For the rest of the list, click here.

5. Zhang Qiang & New Pants: No Question of Disco

张蔷&新裤子: 别再问我什么是迪斯科

(Modern Sky) 

Buy the album at Modern Sky or Taobao.
Follow New Pants on Douban and Facebook.

No VPN? Listen on Xiami.

The Mainland’s music history isn’t very long, but this record bridges generations of synth-loving pop. Zhang Qiang was the country’s first pop star, selling two million records of her 1985 debut Tokyo Night, that successfully introduced Western influenced Mandopop. She breaks her decades-long hiatus to team up with Modern Sky dance-punk staples New Pants to slightly update her retro disco-pop sound. Bubbly songs like ‘Bye Bye Disco’ and ‘My 1980s’ typify the disc’s sugary sound that never veers into cheesiness due to Zhang’s infectious melodies. For more, check out our feature on Modern Sky.

4. SMZB: A Letter from China

生命之饼: 中国来信

(Maybe Mars) 

Buy the album at Taobao.
Follow SMZB on Douban.

No VPN? Listen to SMZB's A Letter from China on Xiami.

As Wuhan’s original punk, Wu Wei has seen it all from tapped phone lines to packed clubs across Europe. 18 years in the game, SMZB remains as ferocious as ever. In their first album in four years, the group has swelled musically for a more expansive take on Celtic punk, with a bagpipe cover of Pink Floyd’s ‘Wish You Were Here’ thrown in for good measure. The record sears with social commentary, but the band’s everyman appeal really shines through on the anthemic title track about “six broke Chinese guys and my American wife” that “scream for life, freedom and rights, dignity and family.” For more, check out our feature on SMZB.

3. Tengger Cavalry: Ancient Call

铁骑: 远古呼唤 

(Metal Hell) 

Buy the album at Bandcamp or iTunes.
Follow Tengger Cavalry on Douban and Facebook.

On their third album in four years, the young kings of Mongolian folk metal fulfill the promise that has many insiders tabbing them as China’s next big thing. Featuring students from Minzhu University of China majoring in dombra shredding and horse-head fiddle, Tengger Cavarly find their voice on Ancient Call. They seamlessly mix Mongolian folk with thrash metal in myth-making epics like ‘Legend of the Horseback’ and ‘Summon the Warrior.’ Already boasting international distribution, they’re rampaging down the trail that Scandinavian acts like Ensiferum have taken to international acclaim.

2. Howie Lee: Borderless Shadows/Eastside Sampler, Vol. 1-4/Swallow

(Trapdoor Records/self-released/SVBKLT) 

Buy Borderless Shadows at iTunes, Eastside Sampler at Bandcamp Swallow at iTunes.
Follow Howie Lee on Douban and Facebook.

No VPN? Watch Borderless Shadows live on Youku.

What does one do after Snoop Lion recruits you for an official remix? If you’re Lee, you move to London and refine your brand of “future music from Beijing.” Recorded for his MA Sound Arts Degree from the London College of Communication, Borderless Shadows reconstructs found sounds and other field recordings into a sublime rhythmic mix on the headier side of intelligent bass music. Now back at home, Lee recently gifted fans with the free EP, Eastside Sampler, a dancefloor thumper comprised of East Asian samples, and linked up with Shanghai's SVBKVLT crew for an early Christmas gift, Swallow EP. For more, check out our feature on forward thinking Mainland musicians.

1. Nova Heart: Nova Heart

(FakeMusicMedia) 

Buy the album at MusikID and past albums on Bandcamp. 
Follow Nova Heart on Douban and Facebook.

No VPN? Watch Nova Heart's record release show on Youku.

Seconds into the Beijing’s group highly anticipated full-length debut, it’s clear they’ve shed the sleek “evil disco” of their buzz EP Beautiful Boys for something more challenging. Helen Feng’s vocals remain enchanting, but are manipulated through different effects over a foreboding musical menagerie of thumping beats and spaghetti western guitar licks. Staples like ‘My Song 9’ - the first by a Chinese band to score regular radio rotation in Australia - return in the diverse disc that veers from spare new wave ballads like ‘Lackluster Number’ to psychedelic rock freakouts like ‘Starmaker.’ The band will embark on a world tour to coincide with the disc's international release, remaining the Mainland band most likely to cross over globally. For more, check out our feature on Nova Heart.

Not enough Mainland music for you? Check back next week, as we look at some of the standout new artists of 2014 and predict what albums to look out for in 2015. For the rest of the list, click here.