What i found that if you bind the remote keys as follows in fluxbox for eg.
None XF86AudioPlay :ExecCommand /usr/bin/xmms -t
None XF86AudioStop :ExecCommand /usr/bin/xmms -s
None XF86AudioPrev :ExecCommand /usr/bin/xmms -r
None XF86AudioNext :ExecCommand /usr/bin/xmms -f
then xmms need not be in the foreground and you dont need to remap the remote keys in x. I am sure you can do this in other window managers too.
The advantage here is that if xmms is not running then it will be started by the remote key press.
The only disadvantage of this is that you cannot use the remote keys in any other application. They are bound to xmms. Maybe i will write a script that will send the remote button press to mplayer or xmms whichever is running and it will start one of the two depending on user preference.
The volume up and down keys are the only ones left and i am yet to find a mixer application that can increase or decrease volume from key presses. something like $MIXERAPP -increase and $MIXERAPP -decrease. mixmos is not capable of this
tovarish.