| Paging Mr. Proust | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | April 29, 2016 | |||
| Recorded | Portland, Oregon | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 45:37 | |||
| Label | Thirty Tigers | |||
| Producer | Peter Buck, Tucker Martine, Gary Louris | |||
| The Jayhawks chronology | ||||
| ||||
Paging Mr. Proust is the ninth studio album by the alt country band The Jayhawks, released in 2016.
The Jayhawks toured and recorded Mockingbird Time with founding member Mark Olson, who returned in 2011. Olson left again in 2012 and the band continued performing without him. [1] Principal songwriter Gary Louris demoed the songs in his home studio before presenting them to the band. "We worked harder in pre-production than any previous Jayhawks record,” Louris said. Former member Kraig Johnson contributed to the recording, though left before the subsequent tour. The final album line-up of Louris, Johnson, Marc Perlman, Karen Grotberg, and Tim O'Regan is the same line-up that recorded the Jayhawks album Smile. John Jackson, who played on the album as a session musician on guitar, mandolin and fiddle joined the group for the supporting tour, replacing Johnson. [2]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    [3] |
| Paste (magazine) |   [4] |
| PopMatters | [5] |
| The Washington Post | (no rating) [6] |
In his review for Allmusic, critic Mark Deming wrote the album "finds Louris and his bandmates mixing up their formula, introducing new edges and angles to the group's evocative, lonesome Midwestern sound." and "this album demonstrates that Louris still knows how to make a memorable album as the group's sole leader." [3] Paste called the album ambitious, but "there is a stylistic cohesion to the band’s previous efforts that’s not always evident on this one. Though the songwriting is adventurous and the performances assured and occasionally even inspiring, what results is a collection of good songs comprising an album that is somehow less than the sum of its parts." [4] Jeff Karoub of The Washington Post praised the album, writing the album "finds a band supremely confident of where it’s been, where it is and, one hopes, will be." [6] PopMatters called "Quiet Corners & Empty Spaces" one of the best songs the band had released and wrote the album "is a fitting addition to the band’s legacy and a confident demonstration that they are capable of keeping on for a long time coming." [5]
All songs by Gary Louris unless otherwise noted.
Bonus Disc (available only to those who pre-ordered through PledgeMusic)
Tracks 1-4 & 9 are Paging Mr. Proust outtakes from the album sessions.
Tracks 5-8 are demo recordings. All instruments and vocals by Gary Louris. Produced by Gary Louris at Pants Optional Studios - Minneapolis, MN
All songs by Gary Louris
The 9 bonus disc tracks were re-released digitally on The Jayhawks Bandcamp in October 2020. [7]
with:
| Chart (2016) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [8] | 37 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [9] | 53 |
| Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [10] | 33 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [11] | 47 |
| UK Albums (OCC) [12] | 51 |
| US Billboard 200 [13] | 75 |
The Jayhawks are an American alternative country and country rock band that emerged from the Twin Cities music scene during the mid-1980s. Led by vocalists, guitarists and songwriters Gary Louris and Mark Olson, its country rock sound was influential on many bands who played the Twin Cities circuit during the 1980s and 1990s like Uncle Tupelo, the Gear Daddies and the Honeydogs. They have released eleven studio albums with and without Olson who left the band in 1995, including five on the American Recordings label. On hiatus from 2005 to 2009, the 1995 lineup of the band reunited, releasing the album, Mockingbird Time, in September 2011. After the tour, Olson again left the band. After another hiatus in 2013, the 1997 lineup led by Louris reunited to play shows in 2014 to support the reissue of three albums released between 1997 and 2003. The band has remained active touring and recording since, including the release of the albums Live at The Belly Up in 2015, Paging Mr. Proust, produced by Peter Buck in 2016, Back Roads and Abandoned Motels in 2018 and XOXO in 2020.
Gary Louris is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter of alternative country and pop music. He was a founding member of the Minneapolis-based band the Jayhawks and their principal songwriter and vocalist after the departure of Mark Olson. Louris is often credited with the band's subsequent move from folk-country toward a more progressive, pop sound.
Golden Smog is an alternative country-rock supergroup of loosely connected musicians mostly from the Minneapolis area. At various times, members of Soul Asylum, The Replacements, Wilco, The Jayhawks, Run Westy Run, The Honeydogs and Big Star have worked with Golden Smog. Given the fluid collaborative nature of Golden Smog the lineup has often changed, but relative constants who appear on all the recordings are guitarists Kraig Johnson, Dan Murphy and Gary Louris, along with bassist Marc Perlman.
On Golden Smog was the debut EP from American band Golden Smog, released in 1992.
Down by the Old Mainstream was American Alternative country band Golden Smog's first full-length album, released in 1995. Its title is from a line in both the Wilco song, "Someday Soon" from the album, Being There, and from "Radio King," the last track on this album.
Weird Tales is American band Golden Smog's second album, released in 1998. The title comes from the pulp magazine Weird Tales; the cover art, by Margaret Brundage, is from the October 1933 issue.
Tomorrow the Green Grass is the fourth studio album by American rock band The Jayhawks, released on February 14, 1995. It peaked at number 92 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Hollywood Town Hall is the third studio album by American rock band The Jayhawks. It peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and number 192 on the Billboard 200. The cover art for the album was shot in Hollywood Township, Carver County, Minnesota by British photographer Andrew Catlin.
Another Fine Day is Golden Smog's third full-length album. It was released on July 18, 2006. It reached number 95 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Sound of Lies is the fifth studio album by American rock band The Jayhawks. It peaked at number 112 on the Billboard 200.
Smile is the sixth studio album by American rock band The Jayhawks, released on May 9, 2000. It reached number 129 on the Billboard 200 and number 14 on Billboard's Top Internet Albums chart.
Rainy Day Music is the seventh studio album by American rock band The Jayhawks, released on April 8, 2003. It debuted on the Billboard 200 at number 51, selling 19,000 copies that week.
Blood on the Slacks is the fourth full-length album by the American band Golden Smog. It was released by Lost Highway Records on April 24, 2007, less than a year after their previous album, Another Fine Day. The album's name is a play on Bob Dylan's 1975 album Blood On The Tracks. It was the first release from the group to not feature the Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy as part of the lineup since 1992's On Golden Smog.
Mark Olson is an American musician and singer-songwriter. He was a founding member of alternative country bands the Jayhawks and the Original Harmony Ridge Creekdippers.
Blue Earth is a studio album by American alt country and alt rock band The Jayhawks, released in 1989.
Music From The North Country – The Jayhawks Anthology is a compilation album by The Jayhawks, released in 2009.
Mockingbird Time is the eighth studio album by the alt country band The Jayhawks, released on September 20, 2011. The album marked the returns of the original front man Mark Olson, who had left the group in 1995 after the release of Tomorrow the Green Grass, and long-time keyboard player Karen Grotberg. Mockingbird Time was the first new studio album by The Jayhawks since 2003's Rainy Day Music. The album entered the Billboard 200 album chart at #38, becoming the highest-charting release of their career to date. It also charted at #2 on Billboard's Folk Albums chart, #6 on the Tastemaker Albums chart, and #11 on the Rock Albums chart.
Live at the Belly Up is a digital-only live album recorded in January 2015 by The Jayhawks, released on February 10, 2015 as an exclusive download from the Belly Up Live website. The album went into wider digital release in April 2015 including a high-resolution audio version.
Back Roads and Abandoned Motels is the tenth studio album by the alt country band The Jayhawks, released on July 13, 2018.
Americana Act II is an album by English rock musician Ray Davies, released by Legacy Recordings in June 2018. It serves as a follow-up and sequel to Davies' 2017 album Americana, the album is made up of material recorded during the sessions for its predecessor, with American country rock band the Jayhawks once again contributing. As with the previous album, Americana Act II also explores the themes relating to Davies' experiences of American culture and of living and touring in the United States.
