The XX played 972 shows in NYC this weekend but the one we saw at Mercury Lounge after they played Ronson's Authentic Shit on EVR was mangled by bad sound until Ronson himself handed singer/guitarist Romy Croft a new guitar and the band played one more song. Their mics worked the whole time though, along with the drum machine for the most part, so aside from some light picking, not much was missed. In fact, their eerie spareness was enhanced, and for the first time in recent memory, the people in the back stopped talking to hear what was going on. Today, The XX have their entire album streaming on NME and the video for "Basic Space," the mp3 of which we premiered last week, appeared over the weekend. They are both well worth an hour or so of your Monday morning.
Stream: The XX, XX
In semi-related news, our UK columnist Scott Wright just put up his very first internet mixtape on his Pinglewood blog, which includes The XX and many other bands featured in Dollars To Pounds. (via Twitter)
