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This English dance-pop outfit is one of the world’s biggest electronic acts in countries that aren’t the United States, where we prefer our techno nerds white, bald and annoying. This is despite the fact that Rollo Armstrong, the producing mastermind behind Faithless, is Dido’s brother and helped construct her easy-drinking coffee-house blockbuster No Angel, which quite a few Americans liked. Parts of No Roots, Faithless’ fourth album, demonstrate those roots: “I Want More: Part 1” is an acoustic trip-hop ditty about not getting no satisfaction; “Bluegrass” is an acoustic trip-hop ditty about not being able to escape your fate; the title track is an acoustic trip-hop ditty about love on a grand scale that actually features Dido’s rainy-day warble. Mostly, though, the album offers the kind of pounding, synth-driven (as opposed to character-driven) dance-floor drama that pushes Europeans to ecstasy and leaves Yanks wondering when Gwen Stefani’s gonna get here.
