‘Mouse Music’ is anything that’s commonly commercially produced, forced or unnatural – as described by this film’s subject, producer Chris Strachwitz. This is not so much a documentary about music but one man’s passion for discovering music’s hidden talent and exposing it to the world. Strachwitz travelled to southern America as a teenager from Germany during the war and from the first time he heard American radio, he has become obsessed with the sound of roots music.
He has dedicated his life to travelling the Deep South, through California, Texas, Louisiana, Memphis and wherever his ears take him, searching for local legends and helping them share their music with the world. This led to his label, Arhoolie Records. Instead of sticking to one genre, this film quickly browses through an entire catalogue of music, beginning with New Orleans jazz, roughneck blues, before taking a journey through Creole, Cajun, zydeco, Tex-Mex, Mexican-American norteño, folk and country.
Due to the breadth of music history at play, the film runs for longer than it should and skips through some of the areas that are more interesting than others – but it’s still an educational journey for music lovers and anyone who can appreciate passion to the point where it’s almost obsession.
