A bizarre synthesis of psychedelia and electronica, Ultimate Reality again unites visual artist Jimmy Joe Roche with electro-spazz musician Dan Deacon.

In this thirty-minute video, the two friends, collaborators, and co-members of Maryland art collective Wham City share a cockeyed love of Arnold Schwarzenegger. The muscle-bound movie star, appearing via cinematic clips, plays the duo’s mind-bending muse.

Neon, color-washed images of Schwarzenegger swirl over and under layers of abstract footage, creating a kaleidoscopic landscape of flashing, mirrored sequences. The disc’s plotline also involves the governor of California; a series of scrolling text sequences combine the plots of Terminator, Junior, and Kindergarten Cop.

The visuals are psychotropic, but Deacon’s instrumental score rejects trippy ambience for head-nodding cadences and melodies. His work showcases synthesized grooves and spastic squeak solos, and neatly fits drum fills and arpeggios onto his aural backdrops.

Midway through Ultimate Reality, Deacon begins a movement with samples of a slide whistle and a baby. The samples combine with a steady beat, which kicks up and joins a tinkling xylophone and a synthesized harmony. Before long, the score again bobs at full speed.

The footage ends without any climax, but the running time works. After the feature, Roche’s hallucinogenic visuals accompany a bonus video for “Crystal Cat,” the second track on Deacon’s recent full-length, Spiderman of the Rings.

- Scott Morrow

Dan Deacon: www.dandeacon.com
Jimmy Joe Roche: www.jimmyjoeroche.com
Wham City: www.whamcity.com