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Unhappy Refrain
2011 studio album by wowaka From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Unhappy Refrain (アンハッピーリフレイン) is the only studio album by Japanese Vocaloid producer and musician Wowaka. It was released on May 18, 2011, through the indie label Balloom, which was founded by him alongside 6 other vocaloid producers.[1][2] It is considered one of the most influential vocaloid albums ever made and a cult classic by fans. Commercially, the album peaked at 6th place on the Oricon Combined Albums Chart for 13 weeks straight.[3]
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Background
Wowaka, previously known as Genjitsutouhi-P, debuted as a vocaloid producer in 2009 with the song In the Grey Zone. (グレーゾーンにて。, Gray Zone ni te.).[4] He released three mini-albums before Unhappy Refrain: the monochrome disc, Seven Girls' Discord, and World 0123456789. In March 2011, he founded the indie record label Balloom alongside other prominent vocaloid producers, such as Toku P, Fullkawa Honpo and Hachi (Kenshi Yonezu).[2] 2 months later, he released Unhappy Refrain, being the label's first release.
Musical and lyrical style
Wowaka's songs are known and characterised by obscure lyrics depicting thoughts of young women in fast-paced melodies.[5] Songs like World's End Dancehall (ワールズエンド・ダンスホール) and the title track, are commonly theorized to interpret suicide, as well as bullying, like in Rolling Girl (ローリンガール). His alias, Genjitsutouhi-P (現実逃避P), came from the phrase "Escaping from reality, how nice!" (In Japanese: 現実逃避って、いいよね！), written in the video descriptions of several of his songs on Nico Nico Douga.[6]
Cover art
The album's cover was designed by Gaph, with art direction by Fullkawa Honpo, a close friend of wowaka who was also a vocaloid producer.[1][7]
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Commercial reception and legacy
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The album was commercially successful, peaking at number 6 on the Oricon Combined Albums chart for 13 weeks straight.[3] It also peaked at number 22 on the Digital Album Sales chart.[8]
Unhappy Refrain would be the first and final vocaloid album by wowaka, due to his departure from the scene in 2011 to form the band Hitorie and death in 2019.[9] Despite his departure, which he claimed was to protect his well-being after the album's release, wowaka credited Hatsune Miku for getting him into making music. He stated: "I never gave it a second of thought 10 years ago as I posted songs, but no matter how you look at it, Hatsune Miku is the one who got me to start music. Miku is sort of like a mother figure to me."[10][11]
His work inspired many Vocaloid producers, as well as fans to make their own covers and derivative works based on his songs.[10][12] Musician Kenshi Yonezu, previously a Vocaloid producer under the name Hachi, was a close friend of wowaka. He praised him for having a deep impact on the concept of "Vocaloid-esque" music among Vocaloid creators, and that since his own music was also influenced by wowaka, he held his greatest respect for him.[13] Other musicians that feature wowaka as an inspiration include Inabakumori.[14]
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Track listing
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All tracks are written by wowaka.
References
External links
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