VINYL FORMAT. The self-titled collaborative album between Omar Rodriguez Lopez (of The Mars Volta) and his late band mate, Jeremy Michael Ward, will come as something of a departure for fans of Rodriguez Lopez's vast catalog of rock-oriented albums. Originally recorded in 2001, after the dissolution of At the Drive-In and prior to the "Tremulant" EP which would announce the arrival of The Mars Volta to the world at large, the Rodriguez-Lopez/Ward collaboration is a playful, abstract concoction of manipulated sounds and processed, unrecognizable recordings of household objects, everyday activities, passing dialog, and similar ephemera. Ward (who passed away in 2003), sound manipulator for TMV as well as a founding member of the dub-devoted De Facto project, was a fixture at the band's Long Beach compound/studio, Anikulapo, and arguably as potent a partner in crime as Rodriguez-Lopez's more well-known collaborator, Cedric Bixler-Zavala. Originally issued as a limited edition (200), minidisc-only release and distributed amongst friends, the album has never enjoyed widespread availability until now (via Infrasonic Sound Recording Co). Comparable to the work of minimalist composer Steve Reich, Rodriguez Lopez has stated that the album is representative of his concept of artistic freedom, as well as illustrating the cross-dimensional elements linking his various solo projects (namely the A Manual Dexterity soundtrack) and his more "traditional" work with De Facto and The Mars Volta.