Customer Reviews

Iem

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Everything about this album is pretty weird. Looking through the liner notes when I first got the album, I thought, "Ehh???" There are no production credits, no pictures of the musician(s) (but lots of pictures of ugly hick families), and the only text is two random blurbs ("Trams should be placed under surveillance" and "Tomorrow we are leaving for the mountains" - huh). Best of all, the sewing machine is listed as an instrument. HOORJ. All this loses some of its weird mystique when you know who is behind the project (and that would be mastermind Steven Wilson).

The meat of the album, -- the indefinable music -- makes _I.E.M._ an odd experience for sure. Beyond the strangeness of the overall sound, Wilson's strength in creating atmosphere and narcotic soundscapes is second to none, while still avoiding the "muzak trap." The coupling of thumping drums and bass with eerie, wailing synthesizers and guitars on the opening track, "The Gospel According to I.E.M.", is amusingly strange by itself. "The Last Will and Testament of Emma Peel" is one part nightmarish ambiance and another part vague waves of spacey synthesized weirdness, and yet another part the dispirited moaning of a mellotron. "Fie Kesh" is brilliantly hot & humid, with exotic instruments like tablas and tambouras (a Turkish guitar, I think) to enhance its vibe. The odd-time drums of "Deafman" are strange when set against the sunlit guitar lines and distant vocals, but the entirety of the song is pretty catchy because it feels joyful somehow. The final track, "Headphone Dust", is probably the right way to end an album like this - dreamy, sublime, and wistful.

But hey, if the music is of no interest to you, you should still buy it just because the name is so swank.

Well, maybe not, but if you're looking for some inventive weirdness in a similar vein to Krautrock, then the self-titled work from IEM will help fill the gap delightfully. This is the brainchild of Steven Wilson, who doesn't exactly have a direct connection with the likes of Neu! or Can, but has an uncanny talent for absorbing sounds & influences and mixing them into something that comes out sounding like anything but a ripoff. IEM is an outlet for his solo instrumental/experimental stuff; this disc explores the mystical groove sound of those bands I just mentioned with sweet-toned guitars, clockwork drums, worldly percussion, synth, organ and sitar. It may sound like music directed solely at middle-aged record-store owners who thrive on boggling their customers' minds with stuff nobody's ever heard of, but this is really a treat for anyone with an open mind.

As if that wasn't good enough, the disc just got an expanded reissuing this year (I'm putting this review under the older edition because Amazon doesn't seem to have the new one). The added material is two versions of the EP track "An Escalator to Xmas," the regular 10-minute piece and a 14-minute 'expanded mix' that I find much more appealing (probably because it doesn't have any children's voices). In either case it's a great complement to the original album - it's more madly addicting grooves and textures, spiced up with tabla and jungle percussion under the sunny synths & guitars.

IEM can be called a lot of things, but never boring or ordinary (as if it could be with a name like this). You don't necessarily have to be a Wilson fan already to enjoy this, but it does require a taste for the bizarre. And preferably a good pair of headphones.

Okay, this album is NOT a necessity. However, that doesn't mean it's a bad album. It's very good if you're a die-hard Steven Wilson fan (like myself), and you want to hear music and soundscape created in the darkest corners of his genius mind. It's nothing like Wilson's other projects (Porcupine Tree, Blackfield, No Man, etc) because it is all Steven Wilson, no one else. The closest thing it comes to is Bass Communion, but yet it differs. It is mainly samples, keyboards, drums, guitar, and bass. No vocals on the entire album, but there is dialouge in some of the samples.

I enjoy this CD a lot, but it's most enjoyable when I listen to it from start to finish. It's the type of music that sets me in a trance and carries me off into a world of catchy grooves, spacey sounds, and improvised-sounding guitar by the man himself, Mr. Steven Wilson.

Again, it's good, but because it's so hard to come across, I only recommend it to those who truly adore Wilson's music.

Had sort of forgotten all about this fabulous CD until I'd recently seen that it was still available.For those of you who may not know,I.E.M. is Porcupine Tree's Steve Wilson's experimental side project.In my opinion,I.E.M. is better than any Porcupine Tree disc that I've ever heard.Is I.E.M. a Wilson solo effort?You decide.I was blown away by the entire five track/45-minute CD.My favorites are the outstanding psych/space rock like "Deafman" and the atmospheric "Headphone Dust".Also couldn't get enough of "Fie Kesh" that employs a Turkish guitar and a tabla to bring itself to life.The only thing about this import that I just don't get is the ten-page tray card fold-out that just has someone's old family photos inside.No matter,this is a MUST-have for fans of this genre.I'd have given it a six star rating,but I could not.

OK, how do I go about reviewing what I consider the best prog. rock album of all time? Of course, this is the direction I wish Porcupine Tree headed in, as it certainly takes you on the ultimate trip.
TRACK 1: Well, Steven doesn't waste much time sinking his teeth into your flesh, and the sound of this one is sort of resembling Tinto Brass. Ambient voices and electronics mixed with semi-hard driving to lure you into the first step of oblivion.
TRACK 2: This one reminds me a little of Alpha Centauri from Tangerine Dream, and how Steven got his fingers into those Dinosaur Antiques of Analogue equipment is beyond me. He slows the pace a bit on this one to dive deeper into a dreamlike state, walking the edge on the verge of darkness.
TRACK 3: The tamburas and sitar take you now one step closer to where he want's you! Into the mind's eye, looking out, this trace level is as if Bryn Jones from Muslimgauze took a tranquilizer, and got together with an acoustic guitarist.
TRACK 4: This one is my favorite track ever! It is pure Steve, pure genius. Reminds me of Kraut rock to the extreme, and taking you to the pinnacle of the trip, or the mountain top! And the electric guitar half way in pushes you right over the edge!
TRACK 5: This tracks "Escalator to Christmas" is one of the bonus tracks, and although doesn't quite fit in as well as the others, it sort of breaks up the trip with some variables. This one reminds me of very early P.T. with breaks and diversions leading back to the tamburas again after many attempts to awaken from the several dreams that were poetically constructed throughout the theme of the long track.
TTRACK 6: This one is a very acoustic trip reminiscent of Pink Floyd's Animals. Wow, and what a very accurate rendition of David Gilmore back in the times.
TRACK 7: Brief snipping reminding me of Muslimgauze again when Bryn Jones goes quiet in the middle of a track.
TRACK 8: Tamburas and early Analog reminds me a bit of going into a trance during Rubycon, Phaedra, or even Sorcerer by Tangerine Dream along with the flute (or flute synth mellotron, hard to tell), along with the other very early Analog instruments (perhaps Hammond C3) take you on the final approach to outer reaches of time and space. And the chanting of Om, or Aum at the end of the track certainly helps make the Indian flair official. Like visiting the Opium dens of Pakistan!
TRACK 9: This one is a hidden bonus track, that sort of reminds of All of It from Vangelis, with Steven's touch of humor erroding on the compact disc along with his masterful accent to the marketing gimmicks of todays technologies! Worth the added wait at the end!
OVERALL, I rate this a five star plus! Masterful, complete trip, and everything you would want to explore the outer reaches of the inner mind's eye, as well as feeling completely satisfied at the end of the journey! OUt of my 25,000 CDs, this one stands out above all the rest!