For his third album, Benedikt H. Hermannsson, aka Benni Hemm Hemm, headed to Murta St. Calunga. While Google searches indicate that this isn’t a real place, it’s difficult to not crave a respite in Hermannsson’s beautiful, orchestral-pop filled land.

Named after a hiking path near Mt. Hood, Menomena’s Brent Knopf veers slightly off the experimental rock path in search of simpler delights with his solo debut project, Ramona Falls. Featuring 35 of Knopf’s best friends, including members of The Helio Sequence and Mirah, Intuit contains the same jazz, folk, and subtle electronia elements of his day job. However, here Knopf’s free-form musicality is layered under deeply introspective lyrics focusing on, you know, the sort of quiet, thought-provoking topics that might make you want to escape for a long nature walk in the first place.

A sense of anticipation—as well as a healthy dollop of soul/jazz fusion as originally crafted by the masters and enhanced by their students—pervades Urbanus, waxed mere days before Barack Obama took the oath of office. Acoustic meets electric, go-go shakes hands with funk, the pot melteth over.

According to Invincible Criminal‘s accompanying press releases, this is Mark Mallman’s most lyric-driven album to date. His decision to change his typically self-deprecating and nihilistic lyrics resulted in a record that Mallman considers “alive, powerful, moving.”

As summer simmers ever-so gently into autumn and this Hawaiian septet delivers a light tropical breeze through willing speakers (wait for dusk; the effect is awesome), even listeners garbed in season-appropriate attire might find themselves spectacularly underdressed. Adventures in Paradise is a smart and swank affair, the kind that usually hums between the walls of an air-conditioned nightclub.

All that time in The Melvins is starting to rub off on the Big Biz fellas, as they seem intent on perversely sidestepping expectations. This one’s going to divide the fan base, no doubt. Many will see welcome growth; others will wonder what the hell happened. You could do bullet points on the changes (or infractions, depending on your ears).

The Low Anthem’s Oh My God, Charlie Darwin might begin with hollowed, harmonized croons fronted by a stunning falsetto in the opener “Charlie Darwin,” but don’t be fooled: By the fourth track, “The Horizon is a Beltway,” the Providence-based trio is knee deep in gravelly vocals, roaring harmonica runs, and shouted choruses.

This quickie pairs “Last Choice,” one of the finer moments from Love Is All’s last full-length A Hundred Things Keep Me Up At Night, with five new tunes. Wyatt Cusick, who recorded the full-length, is also at the boards on the new songs, helping ensure the reverb-laden, raw garage attack that makes Love Is All’s punked-up pop tunes work so well.

Björk fans would be wise to clear room off of their shelves as another multi-platform collection from Iceland’s favorite pixie has been released. Voltaic is a gathering of material spawned from the release of the artist’s seventh full-length album, Volta. The centerpiece is a live album that features recordings from tour dates in Paris and Reykjavik.