Film ReviewsThis Ain't No Mouse Music: the commissar of culture
Jan 16, 2015
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Chris Strachwitz hates "mouse music." Strachwitz, a record producer and founder of Arhoolie Records out of northern California, is the subject of Maureen Gosling and Chris Simon's This Ain't No Mouse Music! The feature length documentary focuses on Strachwitz's life's work capturing American music, from Appalachia to the Rio Grand, and everywhere in between. Arhoolie Records' offerings include music from the '20s and on that reflects the origins and influences of immigrant society, and the ever-changing demographic composition of America.
The vilified mouse music is a loose term that refers to music that is banal, cheesy to the max, and artificial. In other words, music that is devoid of soul-think of Ray Conniff or Richard Clayderman; even Kenny G falls into what singer Astrid Hadad calls the middle class (or mediocre) of heart. Music, like all art, exists along a complex matrix of aesthetic qualities, craft, cultural significance, and something that while indescribable, makes it magic. Carlos Fuentes wrote that music comes in through the ears and transforms the heart and mind. So, if the music collected and produced by Strachwitz and Arhoolie Records ain't no mouse music, then what is it? The film takes viewers on the road with Strachwitz as he tells his story and shows viewers his process for engaging with musicians across a wide spectrum, and how he is able to capture music that has become a cultural and generational bridge in American history, past, present, and future. The word "Arhoolie" means field holler, which is very apropos considering that Arhoolie Records captures these field hollers as they sing and play the history of people who struggle to retain their humanity against a system that dismisses that same humanity.
This Ain't No Mouse Music! is the history of a multicultural America and the sounds it has invented over centuries. LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka), in Blues People: Negro Music in White America says that music is as much about its origin as its environment, meaning that what is created in United States brings with it ties to other places cultures, and these references are synthesized into something here and now-be it jazz, rock and roll, zydeco or conjunto, just to name a few genres.
Strachwitz, like many others, came to the US during World War II with Hitler snapping at his heels. He was only 16 and he fell in love with the sounds around him. He followed his finely-tuned ear and open mind to pursue melodies that many at the time ignored or dismissed. His curiosity and ability to be present allowed him to create relationships with musicians that transcended race issues, ethnicity and class. By his own admission, Strachwitz didn't overtly fight the system of segregation in place during the early days of Arhoolie, even if he didn't agree with the racist laws. But by working with the likes of Mansce Lipscomb, Fred McDowell, Charlie Musselwhite, Big Joe Williams, Big Mama Thornton, Flaco Jimenez, Dennis McGee, and countless others, Strachwitz provided a platform by which music from rural and disenfranchised communities was not only preserved, but also cross-pollinated society at a fundamental level, and continues to do so. Strachwitz never set out to be a conservationist of what he considered to be "the real stuff," it was simply the music to which he gravitated.
This Ain't No Mouse Music! opens abruptly with a handheld camera following Strachwitz into a room at Arhoolie that is a floor-to-ceiling repository of thousands of old records. The video quality that provides the structure for the story is less than beautiful, but the production's use of old footage and photographs makes up for the otherwise pixelated feel. Viewers should keep in mind that the greatness of This Ain't No Mouse Music! is in the contents and above all, the music and sounds. While Strachwitz is the glue in This Ain't No Mouse Music!, the filmmakers support the moving parts of the story through a number of other equally prominent folks like Bonnie Raitt, Ry Cooder, the Jimenez brothers, the Savoy family out of Louisiana and many more. These other voices provide insight into Strachwitz as a person and, as one refers to him, "the commissar of culture."
The film takes viewers on the road with Strachwitz as he tells his story and shows viewers his process for engaging with musicians across a wide spectrum, and how he is able to capture music that has become a cultural and generational bridge in American history, past, present, and future.
This Ain't No Mouse Music! shows on Monday, January 19 at Bear Tooth at 8 p.m.
The vilified mouse music is a loose term that refers to music that is banal, cheesy to the max, and artificial. In other words, music that is devoid of soul-think of Ray Conniff or Richard Clayderman; even Kenny G falls into what singer Astrid Hadad calls the middle class (or mediocre) of heart. Music, like all art, exists along a complex matrix of aesthetic qualities, craft, cultural significance, and something that while indescribable, makes it magic. Carlos Fuentes wrote that music comes in through the ears and transforms the heart and mind. So, if the music collected and produced by Strachwitz and Arhoolie Records ain't no mouse music, then what is it? The film takes viewers on the road with Strachwitz as he tells his story and shows viewers his process for engaging with musicians across a wide spectrum, and how he is able to capture music that has become a cultural and generational bridge in American history, past, present, and future. The word "Arhoolie" means field holler, which is very apropos considering that Arhoolie Records captures these field hollers as they sing and play the history of people who struggle to retain their humanity against a system that dismisses that same humanity.
This Ain't No Mouse Music! is the history of a multicultural America and the sounds it has invented over centuries. LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka), in Blues People: Negro Music in White America says that music is as much about its origin as its environment, meaning that what is created in United States brings with it ties to other places cultures, and these references are synthesized into something here and now-be it jazz, rock and roll, zydeco or conjunto, just to name a few genres.
Strachwitz, like many others, came to the US during World War II with Hitler snapping at his heels. He was only 16 and he fell in love with the sounds around him. He followed his finely-tuned ear and open mind to pursue melodies that many at the time ignored or dismissed. His curiosity and ability to be present allowed him to create relationships with musicians that transcended race issues, ethnicity and class. By his own admission, Strachwitz didn't overtly fight the system of segregation in place during the early days of Arhoolie, even if he didn't agree with the racist laws. But by working with the likes of Mansce Lipscomb, Fred McDowell, Charlie Musselwhite, Big Joe Williams, Big Mama Thornton, Flaco Jimenez, Dennis McGee, and countless others, Strachwitz provided a platform by which music from rural and disenfranchised communities was not only preserved, but also cross-pollinated society at a fundamental level, and continues to do so. Strachwitz never set out to be a conservationist of what he considered to be "the real stuff," it was simply the music to which he gravitated.
This Ain't No Mouse Music! opens abruptly with a handheld camera following Strachwitz into a room at Arhoolie that is a floor-to-ceiling repository of thousands of old records. The video quality that provides the structure for the story is less than beautiful, but the production's use of old footage and photographs makes up for the otherwise pixelated feel. Viewers should keep in mind that the greatness of This Ain't No Mouse Music! is in the contents and above all, the music and sounds. While Strachwitz is the glue in This Ain't No Mouse Music!, the filmmakers support the moving parts of the story through a number of other equally prominent folks like Bonnie Raitt, Ry Cooder, the Jimenez brothers, the Savoy family out of Louisiana and many more. These other voices provide insight into Strachwitz as a person and, as one refers to him, "the commissar of culture."
The film takes viewers on the road with Strachwitz as he tells his story and shows viewers his process for engaging with musicians across a wide spectrum, and how he is able to capture music that has become a cultural and generational bridge in American history, past, present, and future.
This Ain't No Mouse Music! shows on Monday, January 19 at Bear Tooth at 8 p.m.