Mandopop: Top 20 of 2015

Another year has passed and when I sum up my top 20 favorite videos from the Chinese speaking world, these are the ones I choose:

20. 831 - Yoleh Yoleh. The young rockers from Taiwan delivers a modern rock song.

19. Yang Fan - Grandma Yang. Two years old but the comedian makes a video with an almost shockingly bizarre change of style in the refrain that it is to be cherished again and again. ;-)

18. Yen-j - Contemporary Art. Sharp singing in a song about art, I loved this new sound from him.

17. Chopstick Brothers ft Fruit Master - Little Fruit. The lightning never strikes the same spot twice, and just as with korean PSY, it is really hard to find a way forward when having the biggest hit of the year (in this case in China). This is also a creative copy, but still a copy, of the original hit.

16. Han Lei & Da Bing - Scratch Scratch (Nao Nao). Humorous video from this comedy duo.

15. Zheng Bing Bing - Don't Be Afraid. Surprisingly violent (in a cute way!) for a 9 year old girl, and so fun!

14. Mao Ze Shao - Do it, Lady. Funky singing from Ze Shao in a positive and uptempo dance song.

13. Zhang Wenqi - Three bowl of pig feet. One of the most fun title's I've encountered in a song sung in the southern Chinese dialect hakka.

12. Xiao Quan - Social Shake. One of the more interesting goes at creating a viral hit this year.

11. Jolin Tsai - I Love, I Embrace. The video is heaven for a Jolin Tsai fan. Nuff said.

10. Jike Junyi - Lotion Song. A unexpectedly contemplative yet fresh song from her.

9. Tianyo - Three Second Countdown. Cool guy in cool videos that focuses on delivering a great performance, so the sometimes not super english really doesn't matter at all.

8. Popu Lady - Gossip Girls. Even though this is actually a revamped cover, they deliver such a show and strong impression in this video that I feel this is their most (first) unique song, defining themselves properly for the first time.

7. Miss Ko - Ready, Set, Drunk. A New York native from birth, she has gone to taiwan and she really does manage to deliver the goods with some mandarin rap that is really fun and rhythmic and so engaging.

6. Cosmos People - I Hate You. This is really an old hit from 2012, but it is so good I had to bring it onto the top list.

5. Li Yuchun - Only You & Real Love. These delicious songs confirms the fascinating Li Yuchun's current bias for more electronic sounds.

4. Ren Lijia - Xiao Fang, Oh, Xiao Fang. Not many will know of this guy, which is too bad as his song is a very effective pop song.

3. Xiao Zhiming & Chen Wei - Most Beautiful. Not cool but folksy KTV pop, this duo sung their way into my heart with their refrain, it is so addictive.

2. Momo Wu - I wanna be your lover. *Finally* she found her sweet spot with her voice, restraining her wierdness in just the right amount and channeling it into rhythm instead, in this sharp and funky track that is an explosion of color.

1. Da Mouth - Funky Girl, Loser & What The... Their intelligent and sound-perfect disco retro just blew me away and each of these three songs individually places in my top 5 mandarin songs this year.

Mandopop: Top 20 of the first half of 2015

Let's see which twenty videos from the Mandarin speaking cultural sphere I have liked the most so far this year;

20. Jolin Tsai ft Namie Amuro - I'm Not Yours. Two super-stars from two countries may not mean sure success, as it may as well spell heavy and uninspired productions. This was not it, "I'm Not Yours" works quite well and the video is of course eye-candy.

19. Xu Ziwai - Big Times. KTV pop - happy, easy to dig and that's enough.

18. Miss Ko - Ready, Set, Drunk. Probably due to growing up in New York, Miss Ko got that extra swag which, combined with her mandarin rap, makes her songs really makes me want to dance.

17. Han Lei & Da Bing - Scratch Scratch. One of the tries at creating a viral hit like Little Apple, this is quite OK.

16. Jam Hsiao - Zombie All-Stars. A song that gets its theme from Plants vs Zombies? Yes, indeed, but it is actually much better than one would believe, sounding more like a theme love song for a tv-series.

15. Mao Ze Shao - Do it, lady. This one song is the only one I know of from her, but oh so nice it is. Lovely composition for a song that makes me want to swing.

14. Sophia Wang - No 1. I feel maybe I should think the soundscape is somehow...cheesy...but I like it.

13. Genie Chou - Be Yourself. This focused video has a sobriety and -presence- that I would say is most unusual in eastern asian music videos.

12. Tong Yu - Lolita. A light melody combined with a fun video makes this a given on my list.

11. Zheng Bing Bing - Don't Be Afraid. This young and charming tween seems to have some serious production muscles supporting her as her videos so far has been spot on for a girl star. Don't Be Afraid is a super fun video which winks to movies like Kill Bill without ever being non-child friendly, an achievement in itself.

10. Yang Fan - Grandma Yang. This return song from TV host Yang Fan is quite cool with a refrain that explodes with superb craziness.

9. Da Mouth - What the.... Of the three "great" songs from their 2015 album, this was the one which I think of as "the bitpop one", an uppity song that is not as an instant and easy hit to get into as the other two (se later in this list), but it is still great.

8. Zhang Wenqi - Three bowls of pig feet. There is a very attractive sound to the song, sung in the southern chinese dialect hokkien by miss Zhang.

7. AM444 - Dark Show. Talentful musicians going their own way with slightly odd music is almost always worth more than ten "safe" hits. French-Chinese AM444 proved this last year and Dark Show reminds me of this.

6. Jolin Tsai - I Love, I Embrace. A beautiful song and video with a beautiful Jolin being the centerpiece.

5. Xiao Quan - Social Shake. A catchy song in the true mandopop form for the KTV crowd. ;-)

4. Ren Lijia - Xiao Fang, Oh, Xiao Fang. Charming and easy to "get", this was an instant hit for me.

3. Xiao Zhiming & Chen Wei - Most Beautiful. This song just makes me so darn happy! Happy, happy, happy!

2. Da Mouth - Loser. After their first single "Funky Girl", I thought that was probably it, and then they releases "What the..." and this, "Loser", and I'm in heaven.

1. Da Mouth - Funky Girl. This is the first song from their superb album "Back To The Future", and the one that really got me hooked on them. After this follow a number of great songs, as seen above in the list, but this is still the number one.

Mandopop: Jolin Tsai - I Love, I Embrace (自愛自受)

I haven't found a HQ resolution version of this video yet, but "I love, I embrace" from Taiwanese Jolin Tsai's latest album (Play from 2014) is still so good I just have to link it. A bittersweet song with Jolin Tsai being very charming and dramatic in a more classic way than normal.
Update April 7th: Finally they released a better resolution video!

• Jolin Tsai - I Love, I Embrace (自愛自受)

Mandopop/Jpop: Jolin Tsai ft Namie Amuro - I'm Not Yours

Finally the anticipated music video "I'm Not Yours" featuring the two pop stars Jolin Tsai (Taiwan) and Namie Amuro (Japan) has been released, and it's the eye-feast one could hope for, with a suitable Grrl Power theme in the lyrics and storyline.

• Jolin Tsai ft Namie Amuro - I'm Not Yours