I.E.M, or Incredible Expanding Mindfuck is another side project of Steven Wilson’s, this one focusing on his love of experimental rock music and krautrock. This guy has a serious affection for music that is utterly non-commercial and that’s a beautiful thing. He hasn’t let the lack of big album sales derail his desire to create endlessly and I.E.M. has released three albums over the years and a 4 CD box set in 2010 that basically shut the door on the band.
He had originally intended for the band to be an anonymous project but his record label attributed one of the songs to him on a compilation they released so he took ownership and continues to make music for Incredible Expanding Mindfuck in his spare time. The albums were well-received and clearly doing them gave him satisfaction through exploration.