I just bought The Flaming Lips - At war with the mystics DVDA. One thing that was interesting was in the DVD sleeve there is a small description of the surround mix for each song. It tells what sounds you will hear and how they should move between the speakers. I thought that was kind of interesting.

I love this DVD-A. If you haven't yet picked it up, definitely pick up the Yoshimi DVD-A also. It's a little harsh, but listenable. The Soft Bulletin DVD-A is so harsh as to be almost unlistenable. At War With the Mystics sounds the best to me out of the Flaming Lips DVD-A's, and it's a great album.

Yoshimi and WOTM are definitely the better ones surround mix wise. Maybe it is just that the music is more listenable...

They put the surround notes on the Yoshimi disc as well as I recall. Lots of videos & extras on those discs. These crush the new Rush MVI for overall value, lol.

My interview with Steve Drozd from the Lips (http://felixemartinez.com/2006-08-09_column_bg.gif) may be of interest. They seem to be real committed to surround.

I liked the easter eggs hidden on the disc too. Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" and Led Zeppelin "no quarter"....the surround mix is awesome, I wish more bands would produce something similar. I love the mix, but Wayne's voice is just not so easy on the ears. But if you're a surround fan you got to love the lips. Felix: great read on the interview.

The At War with the Mystics dolby digital track is messed up. Instead of the front left and right channels, the left and right channels of the stereo mix were used! Check it out. I posted this on the Flaming lips forum and only got one response. I guess few people care.

I tried Yoshimi DVD-a a while ago. While the music and surround mix are quite interesting, the fidelity of the recording is terrible to the point that it is unlistenable (to me). I returned the disc and didn’t dare to try anything else from Flaming Lips.

I fail to se the point of releasing such a bad (sound quality) recording in “high resolution” audio format.

I thought U.F.O's at the zoo was supposed to be released today, but now it looks like it isn't going to be released till the 25th.