Gwei-Lo

“Gwei-lo/鬼佬”，由四个小伙子组成，并于2000年在Simon Raymonde的Bella Union厂牌下发行了他们的首张同名大碟。吉他手Al Brooker和鼓手Jez Spencer是整个乐队的灵魂所在，初听他们的作品，你就会立刻想起“Mogwai”或“Explosions in the Sky”
不过和“Mogwai”或“Explosions in the Sky”不同的是，Gwei-lo的作品在高潮中经常选择“骤然疾停”的手法，这使得作品变得更有回味了。唱片的开篇曲“U.R.R"上来就是暴风骤雨的吉他浪潮，然后骤然疾停，再是清新吉他的过渡，如此反复三遍，立刻就把听者情绪吊了上来。而且这种高潮倒置的手法也颇为新颖，出彩的地方还在于1分22秒时一段转折，这把吉他给弹得要多黄昏就多黄昏，要多悠长就多悠长。留意一下3分24秒到3分29秒的一段往上不断拔高的双吉他表演，穿插在错落有致的鼓击中很有韵味。用到“骤然疾停”手法的还有"Cellsong”这首作品，不过和“U.R.R"不同的是，在这里的中段高潮里是由一段快速和相对慢些的两波吉他衔接而成，并且不断重复构成。仔细聆听的话，就会发现慢些的那波吉他弹奏酷似之前一直贯穿着的作品刚开始的一段旋律。
Gwei-lo作品另外一个特色就是对吉他音色的调配非常到位，并且总是在作品的开始就给听者以强烈的情感冲击。“Annoy”作品就是最好的例子。在作品的开头，寥落的鼓声映衬着两把孤寂的吉他，瞬间就打造出茫茫大漠的空无感。中段的爆发过程中，鼓声的间隙也正是吉他的转折，配合的非常默契，把这种寂寥的情绪推向了高潮，一发不可收拾。同样的还有第二首作品“12”，开始的一段吉他弹奏虽然简单但却很容易在初次聆听的时候就留下鲜明的印象，随后则是标准的“Explosions in the Sky”式爆发。不过相对Eits而言，这个作品中的后段爆发显得有些凌乱缺乏层次感。个人还是更喜欢在“Homework”里的高潮：吉他旋律不断变化富有层次感。
Gwei-lo的第三个特色，前面其实也已经提过，就是常常有一小段吉他的旋律贯穿着整个作品，代表作品有"Cellsong”、“Homework”。
稍稍怪异的是“Corona”中的吉他音色，但相信只需听过一次，就会留下非常深刻的印象。作品两段的高潮衔接过渡自然流畅，尤其后段每每突然降落的一两下鼓击让人心也为之一颤。这也是碟内篇幅仅次于“Don't try (Hank)”的一首作品：7分38秒。
从“Mogwai”或“Explosions in the Sky”之后，涌现出不少只做纯器乐作品的乐队，但总觉得加了电子乐器或弦乐或爵士后，味道就变得不纯正了。个人还是喜欢这种气势磅礴爽快淋漓的纯粹器乐作品。Gwei-lo严谨地承袭了“Mogwai”和“Explosions in the Sky”的衣钵，虽然没有长达十多分钟的长篇巨作，但却在有限的篇幅内将感伤悠长的情绪演绎得大起大落，丰富的吉他音色常常给人以难以磨灭的印象。这里不得不再次提一下乐队的灵魂人物----吉他手“Al Brooker”，虽然已经逝世，但其锋芒早已经表露无疑，2002年的个人专辑《Quixotic》更是给予Post Rock后续发展提供了许多思路。正如那位台湾乐迷所言，如果Al Brooker在
世，Gwei-lo也许会是今天其中一队最好的Post Rock乐队，这话一点都不夸张。
Gweilo (鬼佬; Jyutping: gwai2 lou2; Cantonese pronounced [kwɐ̌ɪ lə̌ʊ]; sometimes also spelt Gwailo) is a Cantonese term for Caucasians, and has a long history of racially deprecatory use.[1] It has since become a socially accepted, if somewhat familiar, term for Caucasian men.[citation needed] This view is taken by most of the local population in Hong Kong, but many Caucasians residing in Hong Kong remain uncomfortable with the term.[citation needed] That being said, some "gweilos" take to the term kindly as they understand it is used affectionately at the appropriate occasions.[citation needed]
Etymology and history
Gwai Lo (鬼佬) literally means "ghost man"[2]. The term is often translated into English as foreign devil. The term arose when the first group of Europeans appeared in China as they were associated with barbarians due to their behavior.[3] For more than 4000 years, Chinese people had the image of its borders continuously breached by uncivilized tribes given to mayhem and destruction. Hence foreigners were referred to as foreign devils.[3] Historically in Southern parts of China, the term ghost fellow (鬼佬) was used. In Northern parts of China, the term (Western) ocean ghost ((西)洋鬼子) was used, Europe being West of China.[3]
Usage
Nowadays, some Hong Kong residents often refer to Caucasians and other people by their race. This is in sharp contrast to the remainder of the People's Republic of China, including the Cantonese-speaking south, where foreigners are most commonly referred to as "foreign friends" (waiguo pengyou 外國朋友) or "good old foreigner" (lao wai 老外). The character "lao" (老) is the same character use in "good old friend" (老友).
The term gwei (鬼) in gweilo (鬼佬) is an adjective that can be used to express hate and deprecation, an example being the local's expression of their hatred towards the Japanese during their occupation of Hong Kong in WWII with the same gwei (鬼). It conveys a general bad and negative feeling and is a somewhat obsolete and archaic/old-fashioned term nowadays and other more modern terms have largely replaced gwei (鬼) for similarly negative meanings.
The pejorative sense of gweilo (鬼佬) can be specified when the term is prefaced by the adjective sei (死, jyutping: sei2, meaning dead or damned); sei gweilo (死鬼佬), literally means "dead ghost man," thus means a bad "gweilo," or a bad Caucasian. "Sei" (死) is also commonly added to other terms in order to describe the person or people being referred to as "bad", such as "sei lo" (死佬), meaning literally "dead man" or "bad guy" and "sei chai lo" (死差佬), literally "dead policeman" or "bad policeman". Chinese people also can call each other "Sei gwei" (死鬼), literally meaning "dead ghost", but refers to a bad person also. Though it should be noted more often than not it is applied affectionately, similar to "Hey bitch!" in English when used affectionately. The character gwei (鬼) itself can have negative connotations, even without the word sei (死), for example when it was attached to the Japanese military in the term "Guizi Bing" (鬼子兵) during their massacre of what some have estimated to be upwards to 30 million Chinese during World War II. However, the same term can also be applied derogatorily to any foreign military which was an enemy to China.
While "gwailo" is commonly used by some Cantonese speakers in informal speech, the more polite alternative sai yan (西人; jyutping: sai1 jan4, literally: "western person") is now used.[4]
The term is often considered racist by non-Cantonese people.[5] Many Cantonese speakers, however, frequently use the term to refer to white people and westerners in general and they consider the term non-derogatory, which some members of the Caucasian community resent.[6]. On the other hand, some Caucasian members of the Hong Kong community embrace the term, treating it as an affectionate designation and a colloquial slang with nuances understood after prolong exposure to the local culture, which can be deemed offensive at face value. The term lo (佬) when used in other situations are generally quaint as it is a term mostly fallen out of use and the intentional use of it carries a certain comical sense.