Mirwais Ahmadzaï

Mirwais Ahmadzaï
Birth name Mirwais Ahmadzaï
Also known as
  • Mirwais
  • Mirwais Stass
Born (1960-10-23) 23 October 1960
Origin Lausanne, Switzerland
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Record producer
  • songwriter
Years active 1990–present
Labels
Associated acts
Website mirwais.org

Mirwais Ahmadzaï (born 23 October 1960), more commonly known as Mirwais, is a Paris-based record producer and songwriter. He was born in Switzerland to an Afghan father and an Italian mother. He is a leader in the French style of progressive electronic dance music and progressive electronica. A former member of the defunct 1980s group Taxi Girl, he was re-discovered by Madonna in the late 1990s, when he submitted a demo to her then record label, Maverick Records.[1]

Career

Taxi Girl and Juliette et les independents

Known in France for the better part of two decades, Mirwais was a guitarist in the punk group Taxi Girl for eight years, before forming the acoustic outfit Juliette et les Independents with his girlfriend Juliette. Taxi Girl's first EP, "(S.O.S Mannequin)", was released in early 1980 on Pathé Marconi/EMI.

"For a teenager, the late 70s were a strange mixture of disco music and punk, and it was okay to like them all," he says. Taxi Girl captured the punk rock power of The Stooges, the techno futurism of Kraftwerk and the disco euphoria of Giorgio Moroder and molded the diametrically opposed styles into an electrifying new-wave sound that entertained and inspired a generation of listeners bored by the complacency of 80s French pop. Even the current darlings of the French electronic music scene, such as Daft Punk and Air, continue to namecheck Taxi Girl as a major influence on their artistic directions.[2]

Solo career

In 1990, Mirwais released his first album, Mirwais (1st Album), [3] which contained nine tracks and was performed by Mirwais in French Language.

In 1998, he signed to the French independent record label Naïve Records and released the single "Disco science". This single was a success as a club dance hit and appeared in the soundtrack for the Guy Ritchie film, Snatch and the 2006 Luc Besson film Arthur and the Invisibles. In August 2000, he released the album Production,[4] which included the single "Paradise (Not For Me)" made in collaboration with Madonna. It also included two minor chart hits in the UK Singles Chart: "Disco Science" (2000, #68) and "Naive Song" (2000, #50).[5]
Naive Song scored number 2 on the US Dance Club Charts in 2001.[6]

Madonna

Madonna recruited him for writing and production collaboration on three of her studio albums: Music (2000), American Life (2003) and Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005). He also co-wrote a song that would later appear on her greatest hits album Celebration as a previously unreleased track.

Mirwais contributed the following tracks to the Madonna albums:

The Music album was nominated for three Grammy Awards including Record of the Year. "Music" won several MTV Europe awards. He was also involved in the writing and production of the title track to the movie Die Another Day, co-written and performed by Madonna. The song was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Original Song in 2003.

Fischerspooner

Mirwais also co-produced two tracks "Cloud" and "Never Win" on Fischerspooner's second studio album Odyssey, released in 2005.

Y.A.S.

He worked on a project called Y.A.S.. The official website stated: "YAS is the name of Mirwais' new project with the singer and composer Yasmine Hamdan. The album was released in France on 8 June 2009. All songs are performed by her. It is "Arabic Avant-Garde Music".

In an interview on 13 January 2007 in lecourrier.ch, Mirwais said "At the moment I work with Yasmine Hamdan (one half of Lebanon electro-duo Soapkills). The idea is that today, in Western culture, we hear about Arabs everyday - in a bad way, because of terrorism, etc - but we lack of cultural representations coming from those countries that could mix with the western culture, whereas this youth is eager to. I don't want to do world music, but a good western production with a real Arab identity."[7]

Y.A.S.' album, "Arabology" was released in May 2009, with the first single, "Get It Right", following in June that year.

Uffie

After remixing "Pop the Glock", Mirwais became one of the producers of Uffie's album Sex Dreams and Denim Jeans. He composed four songs ADD SUV, "Sex Dreams and Denim Jeans", "Illusion of Love" and "Hong Kong Garden"), two of which featured Pharrell Williams ADD SUV and Mattie Safer ("Illusion of Love").

According to The Independent, "the record peaks with a cover of Siouxsie’s "Hong Kong Garden" which raises one eyebrow for existing and the other for actually being pretty damn good, leaving you looking like Paul McCartney by the end."

Music for films

Discography

Albums

Taxi-Girl

Mirwais

Singles

Videography

Remixes

Albums

Mirwais

ALBUM Tracks Author Composer Producer Release Year
1 Le Futur Mirwais Ahmadzai Mirwais Ahmadzai Mirwais Ahmadzai 1990
2 L'Amour Mirwais Ahmadzai Mirwais Ahmadzai Mirwais Ahmadzai 1990
3 Velours Bleu Mirwais Ahmadzai Mirwais Ahmadzai Mirwais Ahmadzai 1990
4 60-90 Mirwais Ahmadzai Mirwais Ahmadzai Mirwais Ahmadzai 1990
5 Reviens Mirwais Ahmadzai Mirwais Ahmadzai Mirwais Ahmadzai 1990
6 Cellophane Mirwais Ahmadzai Mirwais Ahmadzai Mirwais Ahmadzai 1990
7 Modernisme Mirwais Ahmadzai Mirwais Ahmadzai Mirwais Ahmadzai 1990
8 Tu Sais Bien Mirwais Ahmadzai Mirwais Ahmadzai Mirwais Ahmadzai 1990
9 Régime Sud Americain Mirwais Ahmadzai Mirwais Ahmadzai Mirwais Ahmadzai 1990

Production

ALBUM Tracks Author Composer Producer Release Year
1 Disco Science Mirwais Ahmadzai/Kim Deal Mirwais Ahmadzai/Kim Deal Mirwais Ahmadzai 2000
2 Naive song Mirwais Ahmadzai Mirwais Ahmadzai Mirwais Ahmadzai 2000
3 V.I.(The Last Words She Said Before Leaving) Serge Gainsbourg Adapt:Mirwais Ahmadzai Serge Gainsbourg Adapt:Mirwais Ahmadzai Mirwais Ahmadzai 2000
4 I Can't Wait Mirwais Ahmadzai Mirwais Ahmadzai Mirwais Ahmadzai 2000
5 Junkie's Prayer Mirwais Ahmadzai Mirwais Ahmadzai Mirwais Ahmadzai 2000
6 Definitive Beat Mirwais Ahmadzai Mirwais Ahmadzai Mirwais Ahmadzai 2000
7 Involution Mirwais Ahmadzai Mirwais Ahmadzai Mirwais Ahmadzai 2000
8 Never Young again Mirwais Ahmadzai Mirwais Ahmadzai Mirwais Ahmadzai 2000
Music Paradise( Not For Me) Mirwais Ahmadzai/Madonna Mirwais Ahmadzai /Madonna Mirwais Ahmadzai 2000
Music Music Mirwais Ahmadzai/Madonna Mirwais Ahmadzai/Madonna Mirwais Ahmadzai 2000
Music Impressive Instant Mirwais Ahmadzai/Madonna Mirwais Ahmadzai/Madonna Mirwais Ahmadzai 2000
Music Nobody's Perfect Mirwais Ahmadzai/Madonna Mirwais Ahmadzai/Madonna Mirwais Ahmadzai 2000
Music Don't Tell Me Mirwais Ahmadzai/Madonna Mirwais Ahmadzai/Madonna Mirwais Ahmadzai 2000
Music I Deserve It Mirwais Ahmadzai/Madonna Mirwais Ahmadzai/Madonna Mirwais Ahmadzai 2000
American Life American Life Mirwais Ahmadzai/Madonna Mirwais Ahmadzai/Madonna Mirwais Ahmadzai 2003
American Life Hollywood Mirwais Ahmadzai/Madonna Mirwais Ahmadzai/Madonna Mirwais Ahmadzai 2003
American Life I'm So Stupid Mirwais Ahmadzai/Madonna Mirwais Ahmadzai/Madonna Mirwais Ahmadzai 2003
American Life Love Profusion Mirwais Ahmadzai/Madonna Mirwais Ahmadzai/Madonna Mirwais Ahmadzai 2003
American Life Nobody Knows Me Mirwais Ahmadzai/Madonna Mirwais Ahmadzai/Madonna Mirwais Ahmadzai 2003
American Life Nothing Fails Madonna/Guy Sigsworth/Jem Griffiths Mirwais Ahmadzai/Madonna Mirwais Ahmadzai 2003
American Life Intervention Mirwais Ahmadzai/Madonna Mirwais Ahmadzai/Madonna Mirwais Ahmadzai 2003
American Life X-Static Process Madonna/Stuart Price Mirwais Ahmadzai/Madonna Mirwais Ahmadzai 2003
American Life Mother and Father Mirwais Ahmadzai/Madonna Mirwais Ahmadzai/Madonna Mirwais Ahmadzai 2003
American Life Die Another Day Mirwais Ahmadzai/Madonna Mirwais Ahmadzai/Madonna Mirwais Ahmadzai 2003
American Life Easy Ride Madonna/Monte Pittman Mirwais Ahmadzai/Madonna Mirwais Ahmadzai 2003
Confessions on a Dance Floor Future Lovers Mirwais Ahmadzai/Madonna Mirwais Ahmadzai/Madonna Mirwais Ahmadzai 2005

References

  1. ↑ VAZIRI, AIDIN (20 April 2000). "Madonna Adds a French Twist to Forthcoming "Music"". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2008-06-17.
  2. ↑ "Mirwais online". Retrieved 2011-11-26.
  3. ↑ http://www.discogs.com/Mirwais-Mirwais/master/355021
  4. ↑ http://www.discogs.com/Mirwais-Production/master/80351
  5. ↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 370. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  6. ↑ https://books.google.com/books?id=whMEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA38
  7. ↑ "Mirwais, un héros très discret - Mirwais, a very quiet hero". Retrieved 2008-10-20.
  8. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0246460/awards?ref_=tt_awd
  9. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0014126/
  10. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0498125/?ref_=nm_flmg_com_2
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