Composed mostly of wandering guitar echoes and fuzzed-out machine noise or rhythms, the heart of these songs lay in their zen-like construction. The eleven songs that make up this record drift by in a fog that sends all images into slow-motion: light becomes amazingly intense and the simplest of movements stand as monuments to the beauty of the body.Noise Factory
M.D. Matheson's formula is simple and effective: a lone guitar (sometimes two, one heavily processed) bounces above a wash of percussive loops or noise washes full of coal factories and abandoned warehouses. The melodies are always haunting and carry with them a degree of melancholy, but The Isolationist is never bogged down by drab arrangements or depressingly slow developments. "Killing the Corners" moves along at a walking pace with a steady and easy rhythm of skipping snares, but the mood is that of a cold rainstorm somewhere on the shore of an industrial and rusting city. The formula of guitar-solo plus odd tapes loops and/or rhythms rarely changes, however. The simplicity that drew me half way through the album leaves me a lot bored at times. "Passing Secrets Through the Window" attempts to shift the emphasis from guitars to soft fuzz and eerie radio samples and does so quite well, but it represents only one change of pace; Matheson needs to provide more. In fact, right after the lazy stroll of "Passing Secrets..." Matheson decides he's a little bored and provides the most upbeat (if you can call it that) song on the album. This is a relatively small complaint, though. The melodies are gorgeous, the arrangements come together beautifully (though they are all similar), and the music affects a sense of weightlessness and breathing room that serves as an excellent therapeutic. A change of pace and perhaps a more varied selection of tracks would be great, but I find it hard to complain over these melodies.
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