Mixtape Vinyl has been cutting personal playlists onto actual records in Portland for a decade. Jennifer Dawson and the late David Freel of the band Swell founded the shop in 2016, and it uses a lathe to make albums for weddings, graduations, gender reveals and memorials. Records are fully customizable, from jacket art to disc color, with a run of ten starting at $350.
The timing makes sense. U.S. vinyl sales rose in 2025 for the 19th consecutive year, according to the RIAA. The format has shifted from a way to hear music to a way to keep it. Dawson told the story of customers who are quite often trying to woo somebody, but she says the memorial records are the most meaningful work the shop does. The albums are legal because they’re made for personal use, not commercial sale.
For Suncoast listeners, this one hits close to home. Plenty of us still have a turntable in the den, and plenty of us have a stack of records that belonged to somebody we loved. A custom pressing of the right songs might be the most personal gift left in a world full of gift cards. What would go on your record, and who would you hand it to?
