This makes it a lot harder to scan the UI looking for a particular piece of functionality: you have to guess which button is actually a menu, and which submenu

This makes it a lot harder to scan the UI looking for a particular piece of functionality: you have to guess which button is actually a menu, and which submenu of that menu the thing you're looking for is hiding under. Completely agree. These overly minimal interfaces are great if you only use the most basic functions (open file, pause, play, stop) or already know what you are doing. However, if you need to figure something out its pretty horrible.