Review - Far East Movement - Dirty Bass (Deluxe Edition)

‘Dirty Bass’ is the fourth album by hip hop/electro group Far East Movement, and I am genuinely surprised that you can write that many songs about the same thing. The group (most famous for the forever-in-our-heads song “Fly Like A G6 [ft. Dev]”) are almost just another LMFAO – party party party.

This isn’t such a bad thing though. There is a market for a collection of dumb electronic party songs, and Far East Movement make a big stretch here to stay in that market. People couldn’t get enough of “Fly”, but sadly ‘Dirty Bass’ is missing any big radio hit. The closest they come is “Live My Life”, which made it to #21 in the US due to Justin Bieber guest featuring on the track. It isn’t all bad, but it was their big moment for this record.

The album debuted at #190 and has quickly disappeared. Sad, as you can tell that the group (and their label) pulled out quite a few stops to make this happen. Out of the fourteen tracks on the album (new songs – the deluxe edition has three other singles from their last record), only one is just FEM. The rest are a slew of underground pop, dance, and hip hop bigwigs (names like Tyga, YG, My Name Is Kay, and Natalia Kills) that all take turns spitting guest verses and bringing in hook-laden choruses.

I have never been the biggest Far East Movement fan, but I will say that there are moments on this CD I appreciated. While it may not be anything groundbreaking in the lyrics department, musically the group (and their producers of course) took time and effort to make something original and new. Some of the beats on here have never been done before, and I like where the group is pushing dance music. They had to know that this was a big risk (if they just wanted a hit single, there were other places to turn), but they took it anyway. Songs like “Lights Out (Go Crazy) (ft. Natalia Kills and Junior Caldera)” are unforgiving and I love it.

There are a number of songs on here that, should they have been recorded by someone else, could have made big hits. “Show Me Love (ft. Alvaro)” and “If I Die Tomorrow (ft. Bill Kaulitz)” (Bill Kaulitz being from the German group Tokio Hotel) might have done very well under someone else, but there is something about FEM that just doesn't feel right. I can’t put my finger on it, but maybe they need to do fun things on the side and focus on songwriting and producing for other people, as I can’t imagine they’ll be picking up many more Hot 100 records any time soon.

Listen to: “Dirty Bass (ft. Tyga)”, “Live My Life (ft. Justin Bieber)” and the remix “Live My Life (ft. Justin Bieber and Redfoo of LMFAO) (Party Rock Remix)”, “Turn Up The Love (ft. Cover Drive)”, “If I Die Tomorrow (ft. Bill Kaulitz)”, and “Show Me Love (ft. Alvaro)”