As with the music of many virtuosos, it is possible to become overwhelmed by Dave Fiuczynski's electric-guitar technique and his unique tonal pallette. After the Law of Diminishing Returns sets in, many amazing aspects of his playing might fly past the ears of many listeners. Fortunately, "Kif," with electric cellist Rufus Cappadocia, contains enough hooks to grab listeners the first time through and keep them coming back for more.
Playing both a standard electric guitar as well as a fretless one and a 12-string quarter-tone guitar, Fiuczynski's playing contains elements of jazz, funk-rock, heavy metal and various Eastern influences. He revels in tone bending or coloring devices, such as mega-distortion and a wah pedal, but he sounds just fine when he plays clean, too. Rufus Cappadocia plays a self-made five-string cello. The extended range of that fifth string allows him to handle the bass lines, and on this album he stays pretty much in the background except for a few very choice moments.
The album opens with "Mektoub," Fiuczynski's fuzzed-out guitar melting across the bottom while Cappadocia bows an intro based on a Middle Eastern scale. After about a minute, a cymbal shimmers and the drums snap to with a steady beat. Cappadocia drops his bow and slips into a funky bass line and the various layers of Fiuczynski's guitar rip the tune apart.