hmm, i guess you're right and it's just more extreme (and thus way more noticeable) on material control. interesting. i know dave fridmann is a fan of doing that sort of stuff (which is why i had such a hard time listening to "drums & guns" by low, since the channels are almost 100% separated) and i always think it's odd. i like a mix to sound cohesive and full, not oddly spread out. unless you're doing a 5.1 mix where you want it to sound like you're in the room with the group of musicians around you (like the did with "kind of blue" and is actually pretty cool), i don't understand that philosophy.
wow, sorry. /rant