Things She Carried

Paul Lansky is one of America’s finest composers of computer music — in part, because his computer works have such an organic, human sound. He has created many works out of reconstituted fragments of human speech, often presented in witty and accessible ways; he’s also released an album of quasi-covers of traditional folk songs called Folk Images that’s also worth checking out. This, though, is in some ways Lansky’s most curious and curiously affecting project. Things She Carried is essentially a series of lists, read by the composer’s wife, the actress Hannah McKay, accompanied by a computer-generated soundscape that blurs the distinction between sound effects (street sounds, etc) and music. The opening title track immediately leads to questions, — who is “she”? Why do we care about what appears to be the jumbled contents of her purse? And exactly who is detailing this list? The ominous sound of an electric guitar note dopplering by, and the almost clinical reading of the list, suggests a police investigation, or a morgue. But it could just as easily be the thoughts of a woman absent-mindedly looking through her purse for something. “Things She Noticed,” “Things She Remembered” and “Things She Read” extend the… read more »