Rodaidh McDonald
Birth nameRoderick William George McDonald
BornEdinburgh, Scotland
Occupation(s)Music producer, record company executive
LabelsXL
Websiterodaidhmcdonald.com

Roderick William George "Rodaidh" McDonald[1] is a Scottish record producer 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]

Career

Early career

In 2008, McDonald organised Italo disco club nights in London under the 'Cocadisco' brand.[3]

XL Recordings

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

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

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

Year Film Director Credit
2018 Two for Joy Tom Beard Composer

References

  1. ↑ "ACE Repertory". American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  2. ↑ "Rodaidh McDonald Discogs Page". Discogs.com. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  3. ↑ McDonnell, John (1 September 2008). "Scene and heard: Italo-disco". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  4. ↑ "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.
  5. ↑ "EP:59 Rodaidh McDonald". Jamielidellmusic.com. 17 October 2019. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  6. ↑ "Recording The xx" « Sound On Sound". Soundonsound.com. 21 June 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  7. ↑ "Fresh Touch Video Exclusive" « Another Magazine". Anothermag.com. 17 February 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  8. ↑ "Kinshasa One Two". DRC Music. 19 December 2011. Archived from the original on 20 November 2011. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
  9. ↑ "Damon Albarn previews DRC Music project with "Hallo" « Consequence of Sound". Consequence.net. 25 July 2011. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
  10. ↑ "Damon Albarn-led DRC Music details Congo album « Consequence of Sound". Consequence.net. 30 August 2011. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
  11. ↑ "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.
  12. ↑ "The xx beat Bob Dylan and The Script to Number One" « NME.com". Nme.com. 17 September 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  13. ↑ "Mercury Prize Shortlist Revealed". Pitchfork.com. 11 September 2013. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
  14. ↑ "Rodaidh McDonald talks new albums from the xx and Jai Paul". Dazeddigital.com. 11 June 2014. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  15. ↑ "The xx land their second Number 1 on the Official Albums Chart". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  16. ↑ Leight, Elias (27 July 2017). "Ed Sheeran, the xx, Sampha Lead Mercury Prize Nominations". Rollingstone.com. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  17. ↑ Brown, Mark (14 September 2017). "Mercury prize 2017 is won by Sampha's Process". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  18. ↑ "Revealed: The finalists of The A&R Awards 2017 in association with Abbey Road Studios". Musicbusinessworldwide.com. 20 September 2017. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  19. ↑ "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.
  20. ↑ "2019 Grammy Awards Complete Nominations List". Grammy.com. 7 December 2018. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
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