One of Switzerland’s most popular gold coins has the beautiful name Goldvreneli. The face value is 10 francs, and today the coin is worth more than 20,000 times that. In the song “Crypto” the Goldvreneli stands for the good old days when you didn’t have to deal with absurdities like Bitcoin. The song illustrates quite well what Bonaparte mastermind Tobias Jundt is trying to do on FROM THE ARCHIVES #002 – THE KUMASI SESSION: trying out new things while maintaining an appreciation for the traditional – global pop that relies on traditions.
Editorial recommendations
The only permanent member of the former Berlin party capital house band traveled to Ghana and recorded an album with local musicians in Kumasi, on which he reinvented the old Bonaparte sound with West African highlife rhythms. For the first time, Jundt sings in his native language, Bärndütsch, spoken in the Swiss canton of Bern, and some Bonaparte classics such as “Melody X” and “Blow It Up” are translated.
Only occasionally do the English slogans, as we know them from the early Bonaparte, fly sideways. He starts the album with the most beautiful one: “When they go low, we go highlife.” In a variation of the famous Michelle Obama quote, Jundt recommends simply dancing the bad times away – and Studio Bonaparte play the soundtrack.
This review first appeared in Musikexpress 12/2025.