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.

20. Dear Eloise: Farewell to the Summer

亲爱的艾洛伊丝: 跟夏天说再见

(Maybe Mars) 

Buy the album at Bandcamp or Taobao.
Follow Dear Eloise on Facebook.

The father of Mainland art-punk Yang Haisong has had a busy year. His iconic group P.K. 14 are playing a pair of celebratory shows commemorating the vinyl reissue of their early double-whammy White Paper and Shui Shui Shui this weekend. He continues to flourish as a producer (expect his name to pop up a few more times in this list) while returning to the iconic Beijing indie label as its full-time CEO. Despite the heavy schedule, he’s found time to record this charmingly lo-fi record with wife Sun Xia. Inscribed with a Herman Hesse quote on the cover, Dear Eloise’s third record is a spare poetic affair fueled by jangly distorted guitars, layers of lingering hiss and simple memorable melodies. The couple effectively duet on songs like ‘Scenery’ while tracks like ‘About the World That Behind Light’ are propelled by Yang’s delicate fretwork. For more on Yang, check out our feature on Maybe Mar's seven-year anniversary.

19. Busy Gang: Busy Gang 800

(self-released) 

Buy the album at Bandcamp.
Follow Busy Gang on Douban and Facebook.

No crew ruled Shanghai hip hop like the Busy Gang. Since teaming up on the club hit ‘Turnt Up,’ Hong Kong born rhymer Al Rocco and notorious hometown duo Busy Kidz have landed songs across the city’s Adidas stores, at the top of country’s online charts and into the playlists of China’s celebrities. They’ve stolen shows at Arkham from international stalwarts like Hucci & Ozzie and their debut mixtape captures their hard-hitting blueprint of ignorant trap beats and authoritative bilingual flows. Recent hits ‘Work Out, Cash Out’ and ‘Red Money’ are included with the latter remixed with verses from Shanghai OGs Daddy Chang and Tang King, while new tracks like ‘The Game’ commemorate what’s been a celebratory year for the trio. For more on the group, check out our interview with Al Rocco.

18. The Fallacy: Debris

疯医: 碎片 

(Modern Sky) 

Buy the album at Modern Sky or Taobao.
Follow The Fallacy on Douban.

No VPN? Listen to The Fallacy's Debris at Xiami.

Emerging from the Henan Province suburb, Xinjiang, The Fallacy are the young gatekeepers of China’s post punk tradition. Maybe Mars’ Nevin Dormer raves about them and they’ve already released two acclaimed albums on Modern Sky. Mainland indie godfather Yang Haisong gives the trio the ultimate seal of approval, producing their sophomore disc. Recorded over a few days at Yang’s Psychic Kong studio in Beijing, Debris captures a band growing comfortable in their skin. 2011’s The Silence of Others was full of noisy hooks but Debris is an unrelenting spool of spastic sharp riffs that threaten to careen out of control. They celebrated the achievement with their maiden 21-city national tour. For more, check out our feature on The Fallacy.

17. Hanggai: Bai Fang

杭盖: 回到你身旁 

(Harlem Recordings) 

Buy the album at Taobao or iTunes.
Follow Hanggai on Douban and Facebook.

No VPN? Listen to Hanggai's 'Baifang' on Xiami.

What a decade for Beijing’s original Mongolian folk-fusionist. Led by their Led Zeppelin loving leader Ichi, Hanggai has birthed a thriving genre, won raves from international outlets like Pitchfork and The National, slayed crowds from Beijing to London to Abu Dhabi, and signed a record deal with a European label . On their bombastic fourth album, they continue to fuse classic rock with traditional Mongolian music from the hard-rocking riff fest of ‘Hang Galou’ to the cellphones-in-the-air ballad ‘Ulanbator Nights.’ The band sounds on top of their game making its mix of traditional instruments like mori khuur (two-stringed horsehead fiddle), tobshuur (two stringed lute), throatsinging, electric guitars and rocking drums sound like the most natural thing in the world. For more, check out our interview with Hanggai.

16. J-Fever & Soulspeak: Must be the Explosion?

小老虎&Soulspeak: 一定是爆炸吗？ 

(self-released) 

Buy the album at Taobao.
Follow J-Fever on Douban.

No VPN? Listen to J-Fever & Soulspeak on Douban.

As one half of WordySoulspeak (a collaboration with Beijing’s DJ Wordy), Los Angeles producer Soulspeak performed to hundreds of thousands of people at Las Vegas’ EDC Festival and released a disc that won praise from the likes of Pete Rock and RZA (and us too.) He teams up again with another veteran of the capital city’s hip hop scene. Since 2007, J-Fever has managed to garner the attention of advertisers (Nike), moviemakers (soundtrack for Tai Chi 1) and news crews (the BBC). It’s a match made in heaven with Soulspeak serving up hard hitting jazz-infused hip hop that showcase the 29-year-old MC’s continual evolution from freestyle champ to storyteller.

 For the rest of the Top 25 Mainland albums of 2014 series, click here.