Judith Gennett wrote this review
“It’s down intae yon green grass field
There lies a knight that’s newly killed.”
Malinky is an acoustic Scottish band on the rise. Atypical for a Scots bands, they employ Irish box and low whistle player Leo McCann, as well as the bodhran of Jon Bews. These Hibernophile instruments, combined with the light, flexible vocals of Karine Polwart, identify Malinky more properly as a pan-Celtic group. Most but not all of the tracks are songs and most do have Scottish origins. The band, however, often brings in other influences.
Two of the ballads stand out. “Three Ravens,” sung by Polwart, is a varient of the often-recorded “Twa Corbies” and is wedded to an arrangement inspired by “the brilliant Breton band Skolvan.” The Breton sound with its repetitious fiddle and percussive guitar (joined later by McCann’s box), combined with the short couplets of verse, effectively brings out the medieval darkness of the song. “Thaney” is a song composed in traditional style by Polwart, based on a sixth century legend. Raped and impregnated by a “fair-faced laddie” she is stoned and thrown into the surf, only to be taken in by monks on the Isle O’May. She was later canonized to become St. Enoch, patron saint of shopping centers and her son became Kentigern, patron saint of Glasgow. The song is performed in Balkan meter with bodhran, fiddle and cittern, in this case emphasizing the tension in the story.
Among other traditional songs are a “Billy Taylor” and a light, perky “The False Lover Won Back.” Polwart’s own very traditional sounding “The Sound Of A Tear Not Cried” seems a grim warning for the future, and with its backing whispers seems a good match for the next track “Three Ravens.” “The Trawlin’ Trade” is a fast modern song by John Conolly, referencing the time before the decline of fishing, sung quick and light by Steve Byrne and paired with another Breton tune. The instrumental tracks themselves do get lost in the cracks, but the set “Llantrisant Ladies/Yorkston Athletic/Roy’s Roast,” all by fiddler Bews, is of notice because of its odd juxtaposition of jaunty strathspey, dark slip jig, and peppy reel.
Malinky’s style is contemporary traditional and carries whatever power it has in strings and bellows and flat goatskin. Though not as loud and driving as some bands (particularly those with pipes or bass) it is a solid band with great musicians and an interesting menu, and 3 Ravens is a sure bet for almost any reasonable Scottish music enthusiast.
(Greentrax, 2002)
