add to cart
add to wantlist
email a friend
 
PRICE:
$17.50
IN STOCK
01. Chessie + Contriva - Take Me To Hiddensee
02. Chessie + Contriva - Magenta
03. Chessie + Contriva - Vermilion
04. Chessie + Contriva - Cabina A
05. Chessie + Contriva - Hellblau
06. Chessie + Contriva - Point No Point
07. Chessie + Contriva - Brunswick Green
08. Chessie + Contriva - Lunar White
09. Chessie + Contriva - Capital Traction
10. Chessie + Contriva - Celadon
11. Chessie + Contriva - Dalecarlia Always
12. Chessie + Contriva - Fugitive
ARTIST
TITLE
Black Jacket
FORMAT
CD

LABEL
CATALOG #
WAT 007CD WAT 007CD
GENRE
RELEASE DATE
5/29/2026

Black Jacket is a love letter between two bands separated by continents but united by mutual admiration. Contriva, of Berlin, and Chessie of Washington, DC, first came together in 2001 when sharing a stage, sparking a deep connection over their respective takes on textural, emotive, and mostly instrumental music that merges post-rock, ambient, and experimental elements into unique visions. Fast forward two decades and many trips to their respective studios and now comes Black Jacket, a double LP of musical alchemy that builds upon the expressionistic, idiosyncratic sounds of these two groups. A new classic that proves far greater than the sum of its parts. Begun in the mid 1990's, Washington DC's Chessie is Stephen Gardner (also of noisy shoegaze pioneers, Lorelei) and Ben Bailes, whose various LP's for Slumberland's Dropbeat imprint and Plug Research pair abstract electronics and melancholy post-rock in search of the sounds and feelings of railways and train travel. Berlin's Contriva, (Monika Enterprises, Lok Musik, and Morr Music) features Masha Qrella (known for her solo works for Morr Music), Max Punktezahl (also of Munich indie legends the Notwist and Berlin's Jersey and Saroos), Hannes Lehmann and Rike Schuberty. For over a decade beginning in the mid-1990s, Contriva crafted compelling instrumentals, grafting experimental textures onto beautiful and complex indie songs. Together, the six of them have created Black Jacket.