Radical Risk by Beat Love Oracle

'Radical risk’ is coming close to the idea of what cross-over could be or could do since I started with my former band Hardscore. The basic line-up Beat Love Oracle is a leaner formation, but by adding a piano to it, it brought me back to the roots of my compositional thinking. It always has started from there, but at the same time, as being myself a percussionist, the rhythmic drive of so called non-classical music never ceased to co-exist in my mind. Combining these two layers of thought and feeling resulted this time in a product of which the band, the pianist and myself are proud. I know, artists being proud themselves might not be a sure token of quality, but we can only hope that it's indeed the quality of musicianship and wide-ranging musical ideas which radiate from these heartfelt tracks.

- Frank Nuyts




"Frank Nuyts is a force of nature. A Belgian composer with classical roots who flirts with jazz, progressive rock and Zappa bite. "Radical Risk" is perhaps his most exemplary mestizo work in the unification of all these musical worlds. Supported by his oustanding musicians (the three D's: Dhaene, Deldaene and Debruyne) and reinforced by the excellent pianist Liang-yu Wang, the result is an absolute storming piece of work that feels relevant and groundbreaking.
Truly astounding and an absolute revelation on numerous levels, “Radical Risk” is an absolutely engrossing effort and one of those records that tells you everything you need to know about Frank Nuyts and why he’s remained a vital force in the landscape of "radical music". Issued by áMARXE, the predilect son of Margen Records. Just about as essential as they come and nothing short of a ten out of ten.This one is not to be missed." (Mark T., Third Millennium)

"Me niego en rotundo a clasificar a los de Frank Nuyts, dijera lo que dijera sería injusto e inadecuado. Modern Creative, Hard Bop, Fussion... atajos que, en este caso, te hacen perder tiempo y camino... Avant Garde, Contemporánea, Free Jazz... abrigos viejos que ya no abrochan. ¡La música de BLO respira y transpira! No puedes pretender meterla en un cajón sin merecer mil años de desdichas.
Y tú, pobre mortal, te habías imaginado que la aportación del piano distinguido y refinado de la tailandesa Liang-Yu Wang y su forma de entender y engalanar la Chamber Music, al lenguaje sonoro y concepto descarado y libre de los belgas, aportaría convencionalidad a su propuesta... jajaja, iluso... Nunca antes una vuelta a la esencia primigenia resultó tan avanzada. Qué maravilla!" (Carlos Torrecilla, Kiss That Prog)

"Frank Nuyts mit Frank Zappa mehr als den Vornamen gemein hat. Wir hören ziemlich erwachsenen Jazz, wirbelnden Rock, Filmmusik. Ja, viel Kopf ist dabei, dennoch berührt uns das Gehörte tief, umhüllt uns mit wohliger Wärme. Das Album kann ohne Weiteres auch Hörer*innen empfohlen werden, die dem Rohen und Wilden eher weniger zusprechen, aber dennoch Neues und zugleich Vielschichtiges hören wollen. Die Stücke sind allesamt farbenreich verflochten; doch die Komplexität leistet dem Hörfluss keinen Widerstand. So könnte man auch ein elaboriertes Starkbier beschreiben: »Überaus komplex und dennoch ein ausgezeichneter Trinkfluss.«" (Sepp Wejwar, Skug Magazine)

"From the beginning, Nuyts has composed all of the group’s material and that doesn’t change here, but the addition of piano to the formula has brought the music back closer to the sound of his previous band, Hardscore, which was an octet that included Nuyts, Dhaene, and Debruyne, plus a pianist (and much more), a far more robust sound but stylistically similar to Beat Love Oracle... ...The centerpiece of the album is the 26-minute four-part title track (and each “part” has multiple parts as well), a piece that takes the listener through a number of portals along its brisk trajectory, in and out of unusual corners where classical meets jazz with beautifully melodic and elegant sax solos and shifting meter as a staple of the sound... ...Nuyts has done a superb job composing and all of the players are firing on all cylinders." (Peter Thelen, Exposé)

Music from a future too far away