Some time ago, I discovered that there are “netlabels” out there that offer lots of free, high-quality music. (Examples include Kahvi Collective, Ubiktune, and Soft Phase.)

Kyoto Republic was one of the smaller netlabels I came across, but it ended up having a high concentration of releases that would end up becoming lasting favorites of mine. And most of these releases turned out to be by just one person, Finnish musician Ilkka Hänninen.

Hänninen has released music under several names over the years, including Jean Nine, Trailing Space, and Finnish Pop Sensation, with my favorites being the Trailing Space albums. Aside from the Kyoto Republic page, you can find more of his work on the Jean Nine Bandcamp page. Until recently, you could also find some at trailingspace.net.

If I were to recommend a couple of albums to sample, I’d probably go with these two:

• Trailing Space – Bring the Darkness Over This Place
• Jean Nine – All of a Sudden I Am Full of Scars

I’d like to be helpful and describe the type of music that I’m referring to here, but I can never keep my genre names straight. Appropriate terms might include post-rock, space rock, down-tempo, and IDM.

A compilation album on the Kyoto Republic site, These Days Are Not for Us, introduced me to the work of Jori Kemppi (who has also released music under the name Jori TJ Kemppi). I found Kemppi’s music somewhat challenging to track down. Fortunately, he released a 2012 album, Genmaicha Sessions, that includes some of his best tracks:

• Jori Kemppi – Genmaicha Sessions

As of this writing, some songs by both of these musicians seem to be available nowhere but on their Last.fm pages:

• Trailing Space at Last.fm
• Jean Nine at Last.fm
• Jori TJ Kemppi at Last.fm
• Ilkka Hänninen at Last.fm