Raining Down Diamonds

Infobox Album
Name = Raining Down Diamonds
Type = Album
Artist = Jandek


Released = 2005
Recorded = Unknown
Genre = Outsider music
Length = 44:42
Label = Corwood Industries
Producer = Jandek
Reviews =
Last album = "Glasgow Sunday"
(2005)
This album = "Raining Down Diamonds"
(2005)
Next album = "Khartoum"
(2005)

"Raining Down Diamonds" is the third of four albums by musician Jandek released in 2005. Released as Corwood Industries (#0780), it is his 42nd overall, and finds the artist in a spiritual mode, backed by fretless bass.

Overview

Coming soon after the release of "Glasgow Sunday", the recording of Jandek's first-ever concert, and appearing around the performances of his second and third live shows, this quiet studio album nonetheless grabbed attention. The reason for that is less the music and more the shocking cover, which finds Jandek in Islamic dress, a smile on his face. Judging by the appearance of the man in the concert, this is an older picture, and perhaps represents a facet of his life previously unknown to listeners (though it may be added that Jandek has always had spiritual leanings). The lyrics reflect this picture, and this is the most consistently spiritual album in the Jandek catalog, featuring such lines as, "you’re only as young as your heart/there’s times I know you feel lonely/for the friends who’ve passed you on by/but be free and you’ll see/that it only comes to be/another way back to your heart." The vocals are softer than on some of the previous studio albums, and is supported solely by the bass guitar.

Musically, the album is less confrontational than the other bass/vocal albums. It also features a new version of "Take My Will", originally from "Glad to Get Away" ten years earlier. The song seems quite appropriate here, with the mantra, "Jesus take my will/take mine and make it yours" fitting in nicely with the other devotional lyrics. On the odd side, the album also includes a tribute to the "food God," which one assumes is ironic, yet which is sung in the same tone as everything else.

Track listing

#What Things Are – 5:54
#I Stared – 4:42
#It's Forever – 3:21
#You Ancient – 3:58
#Take My Will – 8:24
#New Rendezvous – 9:37
#Your Visitor – 8:16

Album Cover Description

A hazy photo of the artist with full beard and prayer cap, standing in front of a brick building.