The first of the Nick Cave and The Seeds 5.1 sets (currently around £5 on UK Amazon) is as stuffed with interesting extras as it is sonically spare. It's certainly not a discrete showcase but surround use is not just reverb and presence either with some of the skeletal instrumentation finding its way into the rears. It also moves Nick Cave's vocal around and when the centre speaker is used (A Box For Black Paul) it seems appropriate and well balanced. I listened to this through for the first time on one of the warmest evenings that London has seen this 'Summer' which seemed entirely incongruous to what I was listening to. Howls and wails loom and leer amongst angular guitars and brooding pianos and the whole thing is drenched in a queasy atmosphere, like a drunken Australian Scott Walker impersonator yelling from a mixture of Jim Morrison and the Old testament whilst reeling around a single mic'd rehearsal room.
I'm sure this will split votes here (amongst the few it will doubtless get) due to the album itself but I'd recommend a purchase to those on the fence for the band's cover version of 'In The Ghetto' which is found amongst the extra tracks (also supplied in 96/24 DTS) - a massive contrast to the album itself, it's lush and sloppy with a ragged beauty all of its own.
The video is also found amongst the extras along with a fantastic 45 minute talking head documentary on the making of the album.
The package as a whole is well thought through and beautifully presented (the same house style used for the Depeche Mode sets) and if you can grab one at £5 you should.