Mocky

Given a stage name like Mocky, you might not guess how seriously Dominic Salole takes his music. He may have started out with quirky electro-funk and droll raps; he may have polished his live chops with impromptu concerts in city zoos. But over the course of the '00s, the Canada-born, Berlin-based musician put his formal training in jazz and composition to good use, developing an idiosyncratic, melodic style as dependent upon George Gershwin and Tin Pan Alley as any contemporary electronic styles. A longtime collaborator of Jamie Lidell, Gonzales, Taylor Savvy, Peaches and others, Mocky put his definitive stamp on albums like Lidell's 2008 tribute to '60s soul, Jim, and officially catapulted out of the underground when cowriting Feist's 2007 song "So Sorry" off her breakthrough album The Reminder. (He has gone on to write songs for artists like Joe Cocker.) In 2009, Mocky released Saskamodie, a warm, intimate album of lilting, acoustic pop. Feist and Lidell perform guest spots, but Mocky's string arrangements carry the day.