Mirwais: Production

Madonna's new best friend in the studio may yet prove to be the enigmatic Zinedine Zidane of the discotheque. Crafty and clever by turn, the 39-year-old French producer has thrown many shapes over the course of his career but Production may well prove to be stickiest of these. Just as the in-vogue New York new-wave crew ESG are having their moment in the sun right now, Mirwais's peculiarly body-popping funk should also meet with nodding approval from all sides. Whether squelching the intro from The Breeders's Cannonball into Disco Science or enticing Madonna to provide the icing for the strung-out Paradise (Not For Me), you can see the signs of wayward genius at work. A winner - and it won't need a golden goal.

- Jim Carroll