The Swell Season, the Oscar-winning duo from 2007’s Once, recently stopped by the Rolling Stone studios to perform a pair of tracks from their new album Strict Joy (”In These Arms” and “Low Rising”) along with their signature hit “Falling Slowly.” Check out Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová’s blend of Irish soul and dreamy pop right here. “Low Rising” and “Falling Slowly” are after the jump!
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Rolling Stone is always thrilled to capture a young star covering a legend’s work, and that’s exactly what happened when onetime Breaking artist Jamey Johnson stopped by our studios for an acoustic rendition of Kris Kristofferson’s “A Moment of Forever.” Kristofferson was also the subject of a recent RS story: an epic profile by Ethan Hawke in Issue 1076. Check out Hawke’s guide to the outlaw poet’s essential tracks and click above to watch Johnson’s performance.

German rockers Tokio Hotel aren’t often in America and they rarely play acoustic, which makes their performance of “Automatic” in Rolling Stone’s New York offices earlier this week an extra special treat for the band’s loyal fans. “Automatic was one of the last songs we wrote for Humanoid,” Bill Kaulitz tells RS of the track off the band’s recently released album (their second English-language disc). “I got the idea for that song in the car. The song is about automatic feelings in a girl — she has no real love.” Click above to check out Bill and his brother Tom Kaulitz’s stripped-down version of the song.

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• Learn German With Tokio Hotel

Harper Simon recently stopped by the Rolling Stone offices to perform some stripped-down tracks off his self-produced and self-titled record, which earned a three-and-a-half star review from RS. Click above to watch the singer/songwriter (and son of Paul) perform an intimate version of Harper Simon’s closing track “Berkeley Girl.” Plus, check out Simon’s rendition of Nick Drake’s Pink Moon song “From the Morning” after the jump. (more…)

When power-power guru Matthew Sweet teamed up with the Bangles’ Susanna Hoffs for a covers record in 2006, the pair tackled songs from the Sixties and Seventies — like the Velvet Underground’s “Sunday Morning” and Bob Dylan’s “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue.” The two returned this summer with a sequel, Under the Covers, Vol. 2, which boasts bright, bouncy takes on the Grateful Dead’s “Sugar Magnolia” and Mott the Hoople’s “All the Young Dudes.”

The pair popped by the RS studios recently to show off some of their work stripped down to just two acoustic guitars and vocals. Check out their rendition of Yes’ “I’ve Seen All Good People: Your Move/All Good People” from their latest album above, and Neil Young’s “Cinnamon Girl” (from the first covers LP), after the jump. (more…)