Julia Holter’s Ekstasis is one of those other-worldly yet self-contained albums that works equally well as ambient background music as it does in a solitary, concerted headphones listen. It's a quiet battle cry for the introspective and thoughtful and for anyone who delights in a pretty thing. Named for the Greek word meaning "to be outside of oneself" (an oblique reference to an Anne Carson essay), Holter did the opposite of that, performing a number of songs to a very packed audience at Other Music. It was so intimate (shout out to Holter's adorable eight-year-old nephew, who was front and center), that you almost felt like you needed to look somewhere else—the view of the gym across the street was one weird option. If you want to feel outside of yourself, just imagine watching someone working his quads to "Für Felix."