Chinese pop: Top 20 of first half of 2014

Seeing as I review more and more mandarin/cantopop songs, I found it is time to a top list for the music too, so I get some kind of feeling for relative quality. There is no arguing who is my clear favorite this year so far, but there a also a great number of good songs competing for the other spots.

20. Angela Zhang - Live for Love. This one was simply interesting as a video, with a song that is not as good as her "OK".

19. Ben Xi - Gun Love. Fun song if not for anything else, so because its a song written for a computer game.

18. Hebe Tien - Fickle. She returns to Iceland in the video, in a song that is like a musical (in a good way), with grand gestures and deep passion.

17. Miu Miu - I'm outta control. She is the first Chinese singer that I have seen that openly goes for sleazy, but she combines it with quite good pop songs, adding some credibility instead.

16. Momo Wu - Camazing. For the colors, for the french, for the Gaga-esque style, I must of course add this cool lady.

15. Cheer Chen - Peace & Revolution. A suggestive video well suited to Chen's style of performance and sound, again evolving in her musical expression.

14. Fiona Sit - Pheromone. Heralded to be one important part of a new generation of Cantopop singers, I find the new "Pheromones" the best example of her style.

13. Wang Rong - Bad Sister. A happy and energic video where Wang Rong takes the scene and holds the center of attention as a real show biz pro.

12. Fabel & Candy Lo - Narcissitic and free. A little indie feel to this piece of electronic music.

11. Tanya Chua - One-sided Love. Still and precious this video is, with passion blooming with passages of sweet song between.

10. Sun Shengxi - Girls. A rather simple but elegant piece of R&B that makes me want to dance and clap my hands.

9. Hebe Tian - Forever Love. This is an excellent example how to take a traditional chinese ballad, which almost always bores me out (sorry!), and sing it in a way that keeps the listener interested all the way. It is called presence, quality of voice and focus.

8. Kris Kuan - After Smoke. Her sound is quite different from most mandopop I hear, and it feels somehow like something that has a sound not bound to a certain time but is a kind of indie rock/pop sound that has been here for maybe 20 twenty years at least.

7. Aaron Yan - No Cut. The first song with Aaron Yan that really attracted me. More dynamic and fresh uptempo than before.

6. Huo Zun - Song of Birds. This is the essence of beautiful chinese/ethnic music, so hauntingly dreamy sung by Huo Zun.

5. Yáng Hǎibiāo and Lóng Méizi - Lonely People's Sad Song. There is something inherently fascinating and dance-friendly about this odd number.

4. Khalil Fong - Black White & Grey. Elegant, tight performance and so rhythmic. Love it!

3. Khalil Fong - Dangerous World. The scope of this video and song never becomes too pompous, but instead keeps moving forward, creating a 8 minute drama that works better than most of this kind of music video cum short movie usually does.

2. AM444 - Détache Toi / Shen Jing Mo Shao. The sheer uniqueness of the sound is in itself a reason to  rate this high, but it is also such a fascinating meeting of musicians and cultures and the combination of french and mandarin is so great. Where, to be honest, Khalil Fong imports American quality style to an industry already copying much from America, acts like AM444 walks the paths unknown. More of this please!

1. Khalil Fong - Little Fong. Elegant as Black White and Grey, and grand in its feeling as Dangerous World, something in its feeling makes this the best chinese song/video of the first half of 2014.