of Montreal has been around for nearly 15 years, first creating material within the influential Elephant Six collective, which produced some of the brightest indie bands of the 90s, including The Apples in Stereo, Olivia Tremor Control and Neutral Milk Hotel.

Villagers' debut album "Becoming A Jackal" has been named the greatest Irish album since U2's debut "Boy" back in 1980. That's a hefty title to live up to, but frontman Conor J. O'Brien does it admirably.

You've got to hand it to Dirty Projectors. After all, the band somehow made all of frontman David Longstreth's most uneven and insanely complex ideas work.

After starting as street musicians in downtown Minneapolis, the husband-wife duo of Alexei and Channy Moon Casselle have built their Roma Di Luna twosome into a full fledged band.

Most of us have grown up with Hot Hot Heat to an extent. Formed in 1999, the band had their breakthrough a little while later, with the release of their 2002 album "Make Up The Breakdown." That year, you were hard pressed to not hear "Bandages" when flipping the radio dial, and it was a welcome song to hit any ear.

After being introduced in 2005 by Conor Oberst, Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley and singer-songwriter Johnathan Rice started playing each other's music, which sparked their current relationship. Five years later, they have written a pop-folk album together under the name Jenny and Johnny.

Kele is the new side-project from Bloc Party vocalist Kele Okereke. In an effort to focus more on his interest in dance music and fuel his creativity, Kele released the album "The Boxer" in June.

Although they are a relatively new band, New Century Masters are no strangers to the Twin Cities music scene. After disbanding from previous projects, New Century Masters formed in 2009.

"Billy Bragg without politics is like Kiss without make-up. It's ugly." That's how English alterna-rocker Billy Bragg describes himself.

Dessa stopped by the Current booth at the Minnesota State Fair on MPR Day for a live performance.