Translation of the German review:

The Verein zur Tonbandjagd Schweiz (Swiss Tape Hunting Association) takes care of the archiving of exciting stocks of original studio tapes. Under the label Plasma Records & Tapes, analog direct copies of original tapes from this collection are published in small editions. Thanks to the cultural work of Steff Bossert, it has been possible to release the tape copy Chlöisu Friedli - Studio Sessions - Herbst 1980 bis April 1981 as a lovingly designed product. 

Chlöisu Friedli's impressive musical work is still remembered today. He possessed a very good power of observation and the ability to narrate his experiences in short, concise sentences and to set the scene with his music on the piano. His fragmentary texts, which are nonetheless full of meaning, build up into stories in the listener's mind. Tscharni-Blues, for example, is about the Tscharnergut residential area in the Swiss city of Bern, which was planned and built on a field between 1959 and 1965. The meadow where the boys used to fly kites fell victim to urban planning. Then Chlöisu's father died. He missed him very much. His mother met a new man... The booklet reveals that his genius was countered by depression. He could neither cope with regular work nor with starting a family. Hospital stays and medication became part of his life. With his experiences and the resulting quintessence, he paints a profound picture of his person and gives us a view of the thoughts that moved him as a young man. At the age of 32, Friedli decided to end his life. Although these lines are read bitterly, the album is much less gloomy than I thought. I don't get the impression that Chlöisu Friedli is trying to treat himself through his music; rather, he focuses on the factual presentation of his themes, peppered with a good dose of humor. The sound engineer Adi Tosetto tells of particularly intimate moments during the recordings, which were played live on tape in the studio in 1981/82 with piano and vocals.

The features of this master tape copy are magnificent: the eight-page booklet was produced using the analog offset printing process and hand-stitched by Steff Bossert. Videos of the production process can be found under the link: https://tonbandjagd.ch/chloisu-friedli-studio-sessions. An RTM SM 911 tape is mounted on a high-quality metal reel from Feinwerktechnik Allgäu. The hinged cardboard box was provided with a front and back sticker. To make the texts accessible to a wider audience, they have been translated from Bernese Swiss German. They are available in German and English. If you download them and print them out on both sides, you will have two sheets that can be cut to size and placed in the tape box.

As the original tapes are in very good condition, they could be used for production without any post-processing. The tapes were transferred between the Studer C37 (playback device) and Telefunken M15A (recording device) tape recorders, which had been revised and calibrated by professional technicians. 

This master tape copy is in the top sonic class. The fluidly played blues conveys the intimate atmosphere of the recording and is characterized by excellent melody lines, powerful and expressive vocals. I am very pleased with this very authentic, 100% analog-produced work.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

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Lyrics:

To make the lyrics accessible to a wider audience, they have been translated from Swiss German by Steff Bossert in collaboration with Claus Müller. As some expressions and technical terms are no longer familiar or are no longer used today, they have been annotated. Steff Bossert writes:

“Translating the Bernese German dialect is not at all easy. Especially because the meaning of several words has changed since 1980. “Henniez”, for example, was then the carbonated mineral water commonly used throughout Switzerland. “Citron” was a flavored mineral water, which was considered somewhat more noble. “Meitli” means a girl, but back then it could also mean a woman without being derogatory. “Schübling” is usually a smoked boiled sausage, a term that younger people in Bern no longer know. The “Waldau” was and is the psychiatric clinic in Bern. And a “right city” most likely means a proper, orderly city, “zfride” means content, cozy, pleasant. In the song “Wach auf, du kalte Kirche!” (Wake up, you cold church!) we left the introduction unchanged with the quote from the counting verse “99 N… singen im Chor” (99 N… sing in the choir). The verse was generally known at the time (1981) as a scout and marching song and was not racially questioned. We value the authenticity of the recordings more than today's no-go for the use of the N-word. The song title is a slogan of the Bernese youth movement of 1980, sprayed on the front of the Heiliggeistkirche in Bern.”

(Further notes in brackets) 

1.    Tscharni-Blues (Tscharnergut was the first high-rise housing estate in Bern, Switzerland, Tscharni is the abbreviation)

I remember exactly how we used to fly kites in the field as boys. Someone was drying green hay on strange wire reels in the field. We flew scraps of paper along the kite string, which were buoyed up by the wind.

Tscharnergut, Tscharnergut, it's you!

Tscharnergut, Tscharnergut, it's you! 

Tscharnergut, now you can do it!

I was eight years old when they drew up the profiles. Then we just went to another field to fly kites, us louts. My father died, “Rösslein Hü” was told at school, I learned to play the piano. Mother bought a television because my father had died and the Tscharnergut had its topping-out ceremony. There were Schüblinge. There were Schüblinge! Mother got to know the Scheidegger, there were two elevators per house. High-rise buildings are gray, concrete is gray, I missed my father.

Tscharnergut, it's you! Sorry.

Tscharnergut, it's you, yes!

Now it's your turn, Tscharnergut! Hey!

2.    Sünneliblues (Sunshine blues)

I play a boogie by Jimmy Yancey, who was a sports ground attendant. In those days, if someone was a sports ground attendant, you had the feeling that he had “dropped out”. And Jimmy Yancey was a sports ground attendant. And nowadays, if someone has quit, he's not worth much, or he's in a psychiatric hospital as a pensioner.

I found a girl on the street who wasn't in a good mood, I went everywhere, to Contact (the place where people go to in the alley) and to the polyclinic and everywhere else, and in the end, she ended up in the Waldau because they didn't know where to take her. She just needs a bed where she can crash and sleep in. If someone wants to sleep in today, they must go to Waldau. They also serve mineral water, for example, Henniez during the week and Citron on Sundays. Health insurance pays for everything except contact with the outside world. If you want to make a phone call, you must pay for it yourself. “

Which side do you want today, Mr. Friedli, the left or the right?” That's a shot. “The left one please, I have the feeling it hurts a little less there”. And then the one about smoking... Smoking is not allowed in the hall; you must go to the toilet. Then the doctor came, “Mr. Friedli, let's have a quick chat, preferably in the laundry room in the toilet.” They don't even have a room where you can talk to each other. Then a visitor came. I wanted to be alone for a bit, I said. It's best if we go to the toilet for a while, so we can be alone for a bit. Then I was told, Mr. Friedli, you're not feeling well, you want to go to the toilet for a while. You're a bit on your own there, you're a bit alone, yes.

Today I have an IV pension (disability pension), and everyone can slide down my hump and that's fine.

I go sunbathing during the week, I know why. I go sunbathing, tralalalala. That's the sunshine blues, the sunshine blues that I have.

I don't pay taxes!

3.     Aus het e Guh (Everything has a taste)

One - Everything has a taste. The water tastes of mineral water, the chicken of chicken, the perfume of flowers, the ashtray smells of cigarettes, the sausage of calves, the calf of hormone, the beef of ragout, the air smells of exhaust fumes, yes, yahaa, haha - and people stink.

It's a fine taste, girl.

It's a fine little taste, girl.

We want to combine everything a little, with each other.

4.    Wohäre geisch? (Where are you going?)

Where are you going - two, take two.

(Spanish, then intro) – Hey, hey, hey, hey, I say:

Where are you going, I'm coming with you right now, girl?

Where are you going, I'm coming with you right now, girl? Yeah.

Yes, over hills, mountains and valley, beyond life with you.

Over hill, mountain and dale, over life with you.

Hey, hey, where are you going, I'm coming with you right now, girl.

I say: Where are you going, I'm coming with you right now, girl.

Where are you going, I'm coming with you right now, girl.

Over hills, mountains and valleys, beyond life with you.

Over hills, mountains and valley, beyond life with you.

Hey, hey – yeah.

5.    Liechtample (Traffic light)

In a real city there are traffic lights. A real traffic light lights up. A proper traffic light has three phases. A proper road has a green phase, a proper intersection has ...well... 20 traffic lights.

20 traffic lights with three phases each make 60 lights. A real city has 100 intersections, making 6,000 lights. Switzerland has about 20 larger towns, that's 120,000 lights... hahaa... A traffic light is a happy thing, it changes phase every minute.

Do the math: 120,000 lights in the whole of Switzerland – and they change phase every minute. If you calculate this for the whole of Switzerland, i.e.: 120,000 lights that change phase every minute, that makes sixty-three billion, zero hundred and seventy-two million (63,072,000,000) times a year – up and down.

So: Sixty-three billion zero hundred and seventy-two million times you are told whether you are allowed or not – whether you are allowed or not – whether you are allowed or not, whether you are allowed or not – whether you are allowed or not - whether you are allowed or not: Run across the road!

6.    Meitli (Girl)

Girl - listen to me, girl. Listen to me.

Listen, girl, listen to me.

Listen, girl, listen to me, yes, yes.

Come to me and find some peace.

Hey, hey, hey, hey – listen to me, girl, listen to me, girl, come to me.

You listen here, girl, hey, listen, come to me.

Come to me, girl, and find some peace.

Maybe you'll be my friend one day, my colleague, yes.

Maybe you'll be my friend one day, my colleague, yeah, you.

And that would be enough.

And that would be enough, I'd prefer that too.

Hey mom, hey mom. Thanks Mama, thanks Mama, for a good feeling - yesterday.

7.    Besser i bliebe (Better I stay)

Another piece from my old bag of tricks – better I stay.

I'd better stay in bed a little longer, wisely.

I'd better stay in bed a little longer, wisely.

I can still work hard until it starts to steam.

I stay in bed for a moment – oh, that's cozy.

My wife comes in at half past… and says goodbye.

My wife comes in at half past… and says goodbye.

Hey, hey, hey – I can still go to work hard until it starts to steam.

I stay in bed for a moment – oh, that's cozy.

8.    Wach auf du kalte Kirche (Wake up, you cold church)

99 N… sing in a choir – 99 N… and one sings out.

It's the murderer's fault, it's the traitor's fault.

Jesus took the blame, so he is also to blame.

So, the church is also to blame... what is it to blame for, the church? Cold church.

Are the young doing so well? Or are the old are doing so well?

God is awake - the church is pious; you can read the Bible – “Hop to the broom” (roughly means: Let's go...)

Hey hey, hey, voodoo, voodoo, voodoo, voodoo...

9.     Nobody Washes Your Hand

Now comes another one, even faster (meaning the tempo of the piece of music).

Hey, hey, hey, nobody washes your hand…

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)