Displaced is an ugly collage. Three short off-kilter songs written in the manic intensity of my early twenties. Slightly reworked and re-mixed, they retain much of the raw grit and anger of the time. 
A time when the inner self felt displaced, with nowhere to be home. 

The internal motif is then expanded to vent a South African history of forced removals. A history of displacement. The never ending violent upheaval of wealth, property and land. A score to banging your forehead against a wall in perpetual frustration.

Displaced

Original TV Game Single, and a remix by Big Space!

TV Game EP

March Towards...? and some of the South African Jazz that influenced it.

March Towards...? Inspiration

Some laid back mildly brooding electronic jazz for another year of pandemic pandemonium. I hope to see you at the other side of the third wave. I refuse to believe you're in a better place.

Brooding on The Rooftop

Buddy Leezle X The Dark Cow - HERRINGBONE - INST

Buddy Leezle X The Dark Cow - FUNKY CHILL - INST

Buddy Leezle X The Dark Cow - EMPTY SPACES IN Bb MINOR

Buddy Leezle X The Dark Cow - HERRINGBONE

Buddy Leezle X The Dark Cow - FUNKY CHILL Ft Rap Man Gavin

A collaboration between myself and Rap Man Gavin. The lyrics speak for themselves. We're all going through it, while trying to find light and meaning in the madness. 

Artwork by the gracious Hipnotex

Godlessly

Godlessly Feat Rap Man Gavin

Composed by Kesivan Naidoo.
Speech excerpts from recording of Nelson Mandela

Freedom Dance

Alternative Rock, Punk, Cabaret Swing style beat. 
Composed, Arranged and Produced by The Dark Cow

Download

Punk Cabaret (Instrumental)

Dark Cow vs Boolz is a collaboration between Cape Town producer/drummer @thedarkcow and Cape Town rapper/DJ @lordboolz. The two share an affinity for Hip-Hop of all types, including the more Oldschool variety, with high octane beats and rhymes. The two also share an affinity for alternative music (Punk, Metal, Grunge and Garage Rock), and this comes through in their first effort, TV Game.

Beat by @thedarkcow
Lyrics by @lordboolz

TV Game Feat Boolz

A Remix of @thedarkcow vs @lordboolz TV Game by @bigspace.

I Play You Little Boys (TV Game Remix by Big Space)

Falling (It Seems There Is Nothing Left To Do) with added brutality, mortality, and other assorted alities.

Falling (Ultimate BrVtality Mix)

March Towards…? forms a culmination of years of musical learning via living. Having picked up music, particularly composition, at a late age, many traditional channels of learning were not open. Thanks to online learning Mandisi was able to learn some orchestration, arranging and music theory via Berklee College of Music an online school, where there was no red tape in terms of requiring a formal background in music.

With some analytical skills in pocket, Mandisi attended 'Jazz School' at a Jazz Club in Cape Town, initially called The Mahogany Room, and later changed to Straight, No Chaser. Not thinking much of it at the time, Mandisi picked up aspects of South African jazz, by listening, watching, and hanging out with the most humble, yet highly acclaimed jazz musicians, playing at the club. 

When asked to composed music around the theme, Thinking The Future Into Being, the first thing that came to mind was Kesivan Naidoo’s Freedom Dance. This fit snugly within the exhibition featuring the Rivonia Trialists. Naidoo’s Freedom Dance is a Mandela inspired composition featuring rhythms based on the Toyi Toyi. Interestingly enough, the Toyi Toyi rhythm originates in Zimbabwe, with the Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army. This serendipitously overlapped with the inclusion of Zimbabwean artists in the Thinking The Future Into Being exhibition. The Toyi-Toyi rhythm becomes the basis of March Towards…? continuing what Naidoo started, by injecting the political directly into the composition.

Bandcamp

March Towards...?

Displaced is an ugly collage. Three short off-kilter songs written in the manic intensity of my early twenties. Slightly reworked and remixed production wise, they retain much of the raw grit and anger of the time.
A time when the inner self felt displaced, with nowhere to be home.

The internal metaphor is then expanded to vent a South African history of forced removals. A history of displacement. The never ending violent upheaval of wealth, property and land. A score to banging you forehead against wall in perpetual frustration

Head Trauma (Acceptance in Permanent Damage)

Forced Removal

Free Download

Cletus Kasady

The Dark Cow is the pseudonym for South African based producer, writer and drummer Mandisi Nkomo.

The Dark Cow

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