Roderick William George "Rodaidh" McDonald[1] is a Scottish record producer, DJ and record company executive. He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and currently resides in Los Angeles, California, United States. His production and mixing credits include The xx, King Krule, Adele, Sampha, Beck, Weyes Blood, Lykke Li, Daughter, Savages, The Horrors, Bobby Womack, Vampire Weekend, Hot Chip, and Gil Scott-Heron.[2]
Rodaidh McDonald | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Roderick William George McDonald |
| Born | Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Occupation(s) | Music producer, record company executive |
| Labels | XL |
| Website | rodaidhmcdonald |
Career edit
Early career edit
In 2008, McDonald organised Italo disco club nights in London under the 'Cocadisco' brand.[3]
XL Recordings edit
Between 2009 and 2019, McDonald worked with XL Recordings, operating as A&R as well as overseeing activities in XL Studios, the label's in-house recording studio. He has worked at XL Studios with a number of acts including The xx, Adele, Sampha, Jai Paul, The Horrors, Bobby Womack, Vampire Weekend, Gil Scott-Heron, and Giggs. [4] He also signed artists including King Krule and Powell.[5]
Production edit
McDonald’s production is found across multiple genres and styles, both on and outside of XL.
In 2009, McDonald recorded and mixed The xx's multi-platinum album xx which won the Mercury Music Prize in 2010.[6]
In 2010, McDonald visited Ethiopia with Richard Russell and Nick Zinner. They subsequently released an EP together under the name Fresh Touch. [7]
In 2011, McDonald participated as a producer in Damon Albarn DRC Music project. Collaborating with producers Dan the Automator, XL Recordings, Richard Russell, Jneiro Jarel, Actress, Marc Antoine, Alwest, Remi Kabaka Jr., Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs and Kwes, McDonald went to Kinshasa in DR Congo for one week to record an album called Kinshasa One Two.[8] All proceeds will benefit Oxfam's work in the DRC.[9] The album was released by Warp Records.[10]
In 2012, he continued his relationship with The xx, mixing the band's second album Coexist with Jamie Smith.[11] On 16 September 2012, Coexist entered the UK Albums Chart at number one.[12]
In 2013, McDonald contributed production to albums by Daughter, King Krule, Savages, and Willis Earl Beal amongst others. Savages' album Silence Yourself, was shortlisted for the 2013 Mercury Music Prize.[13]
In an interview with Dazed and Confused in June 2014, McDonald confirmed he was working on a third xx album in New York, Texas, and Iceland. He also confirmed he was working on the debut album for Sampha, as well as UK singer Denai Moore.[14]
On 20 January 2017, I See You by The xx, which was co-produced by McDonald and Jamie Smith, entered the UK Albums Chart at number one. I See You also entered at number one in Australia, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Portugal, and the Netherlands. In the United States it gained the number 1 position in the sales chart and number 2 in the Billboard 200.[15] In July 2017, it was announced that both I See You and Sampha’s debut, Process, also co-produced by McDonald, had both been nominated for the 2017 Mercury Music Prize,[16] with Process winning the prize in September 2017.[17]
The same year also saw McDonald shortlisted as Producer Of The Year at the 2017 A&R Awards.[18]
A further US No.1 album came in March 2018 when David Byrne's American Utopia, produced by McDonald, Byrne, and Brian Eno, debuted at No.1 in the US Top Album chart and No.3 in The Billboard 200.[19] American Utopia was nominated for 'Best Alternative Music Album' in the 2019 Grammy Awards.[20]
Discography edit
| Year | Artist | Title | Album | Label | Credit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Dermot Kennedy | ‘’Sunday” | - | Interscope | Production, Writing |
| Mustafa | ‘’Name Of God” | - | Regent Park Songs | Production, Mixing | |
| Mayer Hawthorne | all songs | ‘’For All Time” | P&L Records | Production, Arranging | |
| Beck | ‘’Thinking About You” | - | Universal | Mixing | |
| Don Toliver | ‘’Leather Coat” | Lovesick | Atlantic | Production, Writing | |
| Youth Lagoon | all songs | Heaven Is a Junkyard | Fat Possum | Production | |
| Paris Texas | ”Everybody's Safe Until…”, “Lana Del Rey” | Mid Air | self released | Production, writing | |
| IDK | ”Thug Tear”, “Rabbit Stew” | F65 | Warner | Production | |
| Glaive | ”Oh Are You Bipolar One or Two?” | I Care So Much That I Don't Care At All | Interscope | Production, Writing | |
| 2022 | Weyes Blood | “A Given Thing” | And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow | Sub Pop | Production |
| Omar Apollo | “Ivory” | Ivory | Warner | Production | |
| Jamie xx | “Let’s Do It Again” | single | Young | Mixing | |
| Lykke Li | “Happy Hurts”, “5D”, “Highway To Your Heart” | Eyeye | PIAS | Production, Writing | |
| 2021 | Mustafa | "Ali" | When Smoke Rises | Regent Park Songs | Production |
| Parquet Courts | - | Sympathy For Life | Rough Trade | Production, Mixing | |
| 2020 | Alaska Reid | "Oblivion", "Pilot" | Big Bunny | Terrible Records | Production, Writing |
| Duval Timothy | all songs | Help | Carrying Colour | Production, Mixing | |
| 2019 | Hot Chip | - | A Bath Full Of Ecstasy | Domino | Production |
| Kelsey Lu | - | Blood | Columbia | Production, Writing | |
| Yellow Days | "How Can I Love You?" | single | Sony Records | Production | |
| 2018 | David Byrne | all songs | American Utopia | Nonesuch | Production |
| 2017 | Nick Mulvey | "Mountain To Move" | Wake Up Now | Fiction | Production |
| The xx | all songs | I See You | Young Turks | Production | |
| Sampha | all songs | Process | Young Turks | Production | |
| HMLTD | "To The Door" | single | Ouroboros LTD | Production | |
| 2016 | Sampha | "Timmy’s Prayer", "Blood On Me" | singles | Young Turks | Production |
| Kanye West | "Saint Pablo" | The Life of Pablo | Def Jam | Sampha vocal production | |
| Liss | "Try", "Sorry" | Try EP | XL Recordings | Production | |
| Låpsley | "Love Is Blind", "Leap", "Operator (He Doesn’t Call Me)", "Cliff", "Hurt Me", "Heartless" | Long Way Home | XL Recordings | Production, Writing | |
| The xx | "On Hold" | single | Young Turks | Production | |
| JONES | "Lonely Cry" | New Skin | 37 Adventures | Production | |
| 2015 | Låpsley | all songs | Understudy EP | XL Recordings | Production, Writing |
| Ardyn | "Universe" "Help Me On My Way" | Universe EP | National Anthem | Production | |
| 2014 | How To Dress Well | all songs | "What Is This Heart?" | Domino | Production |
| FKA Twigs | How's That, Water Me | EP2 | Young Turks | Mixing | |
| 2013 | King Krule | all songs | 6 Feet Beneath the Moon | XL Recordings, True Panther Sounds | Production |
| Savages | all songs | Silence Yourself | Matador | Production | |
| Daughter | "Winter", "Smother", "Amsterdam", "Touch" | If You Leave | 4AD | Production | |
| Willis Earl Beal | all songs | Nobody Knows. | XL Recordings | Production | |
| 2012 | How To Dress Well | all songs | Total Loss | Domino | Production |
| The xx | all songs | Coexist | Young Turks | Mixing | |
| Daughter | "Smother" | single | 4AD | Mixing | |
| 2011 | King Krule | All songs | King Krule EP | True Panther Sounds | Production |
| The Horrors | "Whole New Way" | single | XL Recordings | Mixing | |
| DRC Music | "Ah Congo" | Kinshasa One Two | Warp Records | Production | |
| Spector | "Never Fade Away" | Enjoy It While It Lasts | Fiction | Production | |
| 2010 | Adele | "If It Hadn’t Been For Love", "Hiding My Heart" | 21 | XL Recordings | Production |
| Vampire Weekend | "Giving Up The Gun (Extended Mix)" | single | XL Recordings | Additional Production | |
| Giggs | "Talkin Da Hardest" | Let Em Ave It | XL Recordings, Takeover Entertainment | Mixing | |
| The xx | all songs | xx | Young Turks | Recording, Mixing | |
| Gil Scott Heron | "I'm New Here", "Me and the Devil" | I'm New Here | XL Recordings | Recording, Mixing |
Soundtracks edit
| Year | Film | Director | Credit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Two for Joy | Tom Beard | Composer |
References edit
- ^ "ACE Repertory". American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
- ^ "Rodaidh McDonald Discogs Page". Discogs.com. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
- ^ McDonnell, John (1 September 2008). "Scene and heard: Italo-disco". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- ^ "A Quick Chat With Rodaidh McDonald" « Creators Project". Creatorsproject.com. 17 July 2011. Archived from the original on 4 February 2013. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
- ^ "EP:59 Rodaidh McDonald". Jamielidellmusic.com. 17 October 2019. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
- ^ "Recording The xx" « Sound On Sound". Soundonsound.com. 21 June 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
- ^ "Fresh Touch Video Exclusive" « Another Magazine". Anothermag.com. 17 February 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
- ^ "Kinshasa One Two". DRC Music. 19 December 2011. Archived from the original on 20 November 2011. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
- ^ "Damon Albarn previews DRC Music project with "Hallo" « Consequence of Sound". Consequence.net. 25 July 2011. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
- ^ "Damon Albarn-led DRC Music details Congo album « Consequence of Sound". Consequence.net. 30 August 2011. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
- ^ "The xx update - Second Album Being Mixed Down Rodaidh McDonald Again Behind The Boards" « Fact Magazine". Factmag.com. 21 March 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
- ^ "The xx beat Bob Dylan and The Script to Number One" « NME.com". Nme.com. 17 September 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
- ^ "Mercury Prize Shortlist Revealed". Pitchfork.com. 11 September 2013. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
- ^ "Rodaidh McDonald talks new albums from the xx and Jai Paul". Dazeddigital.com. 11 June 2014. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
- ^ "The xx land their second Number 1 on the Official Albums Chart". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
- ^ Leight, Elias (27 July 2017). "Ed Sheeran, the xx, Sampha Lead Mercury Prize Nominations". Rollingstone.com. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
- ^ Brown, Mark (14 September 2017). "Mercury prize 2017 is won by Sampha's Process". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
- ^ "Revealed: The finalists of The A&R Awards 2017 in association with Abbey Road Studios". Musicbusinessworldwide.com. 20 September 2017. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
- ^ "David Byrne's "American Utopia" Debuts at No. 1 on Top Current Album Chart, No. 3 on Billboard 200". Nonesuch.com. 18 March 2018. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
- ^ "2019 Grammy Awards Complete Nominations List". Grammy.com. 7 December 2018. Retrieved 7 December 2018.