"There's no such thing as a perfect Christian. We are all in this world to learn about our Christian faith, and to live our faith in the best way possible. It is a life spanning struggle to search for the truth. And an even more daunting task to be able to live our lives for God. Christianity is not a religion for the ...perfect human being. It is for those who were humbled, for those who felt weakness, and for those who cry out for an inner peace." - Jasper Lloyd Tan, Thoughts And Notions

Jars Of Clay "Two Hands" [music video]

"There's no such thing as a perfect Christian. We are all in this world to learn about our Christian faith, and to live our faith in the best way possible. It is a life spanning struggle to search for the truth. And an even more daunting task to be able to live our lives for God. Christianity is not a religion for the perfect human being. It is for those who were humbled, for those who felt weakness, and for those who cry out for an inner peace."

Jasper Lloyd Tan
Thoughts And Notions

Two Hands lyrics

I’ve been living out of sanity
I’ve been splitting hairs and blurring lines
I am a house that is divided
In my heart and in my mind

I use one hand to pull closer
The other to push you away
If I had two hands doing the same thing
Lifted high, lifted high

I have a broken disposition
I’m a liar who thirsts for the truth
And while I ache for faith to hold me
I need to feel the scars and see the proof

And if we just keep digging we can reach the foundation
Of our souls
And if we just keep cutting all the chains from our hearts
We’ll lose control

And it feels like giving in
It feels like starting over
It feels like waking up, and you know it’s coming
It feels like a brand new day
Open your eyes

To our friends and supporters. We are sorry that we would be declining for gig bookings for the meantime, the band is under major reconstruction. Will post the latest news about us soon.

2009 NU Rock Awards

Old guys (the Sound Engineer and the Lyricist) representing the college band of the year nominee, Thoughts And Notions at the 2009 NU Rock Awards.

I think one of the high point of being a songwriter and a musician is to be recognized for the work that you have put in to your songs. For us, a band from far flung Mindanao, in the city of Cagayan de Oro. To be named as a nominee for College Band of the year for a prestigious Rock Awards spearheaded by the number one Rock and Alternative Radio in the Philippines, NU 107, is no small feat. I mean never in our wildest imaginations that we would be recognized for our work when we started this whole project. It was always about to honor GOD and share our experiences through our songs as we grew with our FAITH. So to be actually on the Rock Awards venue at the World Trade Center in Pasay City made us feel like a fish out of water. Or gatecrashers to a party (though we were invited actually). Why? Well for one, it was an awards show dominated by Manila based Bands (or from nearby Luzon). In our category, there were only two who got nominated that was from Mindanao, KEYK from Tagum, Davao, and us from Cagayan de Oro. In fact, looking at the list, KEYK and us were the only Mindanao based bands there. It also doesn't help that I just recently transferred to Manila, so this is basically my first exposure to a National Awards show that I attended live. That's why for NU 107 to include us on the list of nominees, that itself is already a huge honor for us and we are grateful for the opportunity. 

Secondly, we are a band that leans towards the Christian Contemporary Music genre. And while the genre is big in other countries, here in the Philippines, most Christian artists are Church based and mainly supported in the confines of their own Churches. Those that ventured outside their Churches did not enjoy that much success. And had to do it the traditional independent way, like other mainstream music artists. So the hard work that we have to put through for our songs to reach an audience is doubled. On one hand, we are utilizing the mainstream radio for our songs to reach an audience. And we are not even sure if the audience would accept our songs. On the other hand, Christian Radio stations are very meticulous in accepting songs for airplay. It has to strictly adhere to their Faith and belief to avoid misdirection and wrong messages to their listeners. And I entirely understand them for that. But Thoughts And Notions was never about preaching. We sing about our personal encounters with God's love and the experiential part of our Faith. What we write and sing about is a testament from our own testimonies of God's love. And maybe that's why RUNAWAY ANGEL, the song that put us on NU 107's list of nominees for College Band of the year resonated to our audience.    

The song Runaway Angel basically is about a person who thought to himself that he can venture on his own armed only by his confidence and belief in himself. And since all of us are God's special creation, perhaps even his Angels, our creator weeps for the misfortune that the person fell into as he trudged towards the wrong path. Now feeling broken and depressed, he lost his voice and belief in the positivity of life. But then, God has always been around to show him the way, the truth, and the life that he should live if he only turn to him. He fixes his broken wings, and gives him a new voice to be able to soldier on to that path of inconceivable hardships. With his spirit renewed, and with God's assurance that he is 100% behind him, the person manages to conquer his inner demons and that broken path before him. Armed with a new confidence backed by his Faith in God. That is basically the story of the song, and I believe that it resonates so well to that age of adolescence and the category we were nominated in because this has always been the age of uncertainties. When we are in the process of jumping on to the next phase in life (adulthood). And if not armed with the right mindset and the right confidence and Faith, the probability of not being able to handle setbacks and failures is bigger. This is where most of the depression age is rampant, as teen suicides is recognized as the third leading cause of death for age 15-24. So maybe Runaway Angel meant more to some of our listeners than just being another song.      

So anyway, we did not win the award. But that is not something to cry about. The nomination itself was already a big win for us. And it put us on the consciousness of Metro Manila listeners as Runaway Angel received a good amount of airplay in the NU University Rock program leading up to the awards show. So with that said, we are forever grateful to NU 107 for the opportunity to share our song to its listeners. To Maam Arci Catalan, Associate Producer of University Rock, for believing in us. You can't possibly fathom the joy that you have given us and for being an instrument to our mission to help "Uplift wounded souls." 

You can Pre-Save the song by clicking on this link (featuring a brand new 2022 Album Cover with National Ranked no. 1 in the 12 Under category for Archery, Chevy Lim as image model):

                                                    https://bfan.link/runaway-angel

Sharing the list of nominees below. Those in BOLD Letters were the declared WINNER for the category.   

ARTIST OF THE YEAR

UP DHARMA DOWN
SUGARFREE
KAMIKAZEE
HILERA
KJWAN

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

BIPOLAR – Up Dharma Down
LONG TIME NOISY – Kamikazee
13 SECONDS TO LOVE – Kjwan
FALL CRASH INFECT – Zach Lucero
NUT HOUSE – Hilera

VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

ARMI MILLARE – Up Dharma Down
BASTI ARTADI – Wolfgang
EBE DANCEL – Sugarfree
MARC ABAYA – Kjwan
CHRIS PADILLA – Hilera

GUITARIST OF THE YEAR

JOMAL LINAO – Kamikazee
KAKOY LEGASPI – Peryodiko
BOOGIE ROMERO – Kjwan
CHRIS PADILLA – Hilera
LED ZEPPELIN TUTAY – Kamikazee

BASSIST OF THE YEAR

PAUL YAP – Up Dharma Down
IVAN GARCIA – Hilera
KELLEY MANGAHAS – Kjwan
SIMON TAN – Peryodiko
KELVIN YU – Corporate Lo-Fi

DRUMMER OF THE YEAR

FRANCIS AQUINO – Wolfgang
VIC MERCADO – Bamboo
EAN MAYOR – Up Dharma Down
ALLAN “BORDS” BURDEOS – Kamikazee
BOBBY PADILLA – Hilera

BEST NEW ARTIST

PERYODIKO
ZACH LUCERO
CORPORATE LO-FI
DUSTER
THE LOWTECHS

SONG OF THE YEAR

ANTUKIN – Rico Blanco
TEACHER’S PET – Pupil
GUSTO KO LAMANG SA BUHAY – Itchyworms
DIAMOND SHOTGUN – Chicosci
LIFE LINE – Kjwan
MRI – Archipelago
AGAWAN BASE – Peryodiko

SMART / U-ROCK COLLEGE BAND OF THE YEAR

PARDS (UP Manila)
10 STORY FALL (UP Diliman, Ateneo, CSB & UST)
HYENA HARMONIES INC. (UPLB)
GO GREEN WITH ENVY (UE, UST, CSB & Our Lady Of Fatima University)
FALLING AT ZERO DEGREES ( FEU)
A.B.S. COMBO (Ateneo)
STUFFTOYS (UP Diliman)
KEYK (Tagum College of Institute, St. Mary’s College Tagum, Davao Merchant Marine Academy & TESDA davao
THE CHARMES (UST, PSBA & FEU)
THOUGHTS AND NOTIONS (Xavier University Ateneo de Cagayan de Oro)

BEST ALBUM PACKAGING

BIPOLAR of UP DHARMA DOWN by EAN MAYOR
KUNDIMAN of HALE by Eric David
LONG TIME NOISY of KAMIKAZEE by Allan Burdeos & Ace Enriquez
MORNINGS & AIRPORTS of SUGARFREE by Inksurge
NUTHOUSE of HILERA by Timothy Wong
PERYODIKO by PERYODIKO by Paulina Ortega

PRODUCER OF THE YEAR

ROBIN RIVERA for Peryodiko by Peryodiko
TOTI DALMACION & TERNO RECORDINGS for Bi-Polar by Up Dharma Down
ZACH LUCERO for Fall Crash Infect by Zach Lucero
ANGEE ROZUL, MONTY MACALINO & HALE for Kundiman by Hale
HILERA for Nut House by Hilera
BUDDY ZABALA & ROMEL SANCHEZ for Mornings & Airports by Sugarfree

IN THE RAW AWARD

CRUDE OZ
DIMMERSWITCH
DENINMAN
SINCO
MAYO BALUYOT
SQUEEZERS

VIDEO OF THE YEAR

Last Days On A Cruise Ship (Bamboo) Pancho Esguerra
Sana (Up Dharma Down) Pancho Esguerra
Life Line (Kjwan) Joaquin Valdez
Radical (Hilera) Treb Monteras
Murasaki Blue (The Dorques) Marie Vergara and Mihk Vergara

List of Nominees were taken from this site

16th NU 107 Rock Awards - 2009 Nominees ⋆ Starmometer

Listen Loud

Start:	Sep 26, '09 8:00p
Location:	Star Mall EDSA Shaw Activity Center

Our Metro Manila invasion with performances by Noel Cabangon, Vinyard, ReDirected, Beracah, Effulgence, and many more...

Thoughts And Notions in Metro Manila!

Set from the heels of our NU 107 U-Rock College Band of the Year nomination, we will be invading Metro Manila very soon. Click on the poster for more details!

Tan-Yap Wedding

Start:	Sep 27, '09 8:00p
Location:	Renaissance Hotel, Makati City

Premiering an unreleased song called It's You for the wedding event of Thoughts And Notions' founder

We are nominated in the 2009 NU Rock Awards!

I was completely shocked and surprised when I received a text message coming from NU 107 U-Rock's Associate Producer Arci Catalan that we were nominated as one of the contenders for the U-Rock College Band of the Year. I guess this has to be our biggest honor so far in our years of existence as a band. NU 107 has always been regarded as the only authority as far as rock music is concerned in our country. So it is quite an honor to be recognized and nominated. This is also a victory for a Christian Contemporary Rock Band to be honored in a mainstream radio's largest Rock Music Awards Event. I used to follow each edition of the NU 107 Rock awards and this time I can hardly believe that we are now among the nominees in this prestigious event. I used to watch my musical heroes on stage performing for the Rock Awards as well as receiving the victory trophy. Now, we get a chance to receive that very same trophy if God so wills it.

We were nominated behind the strength of our new album's carrier single Runaway Angel, which also has been rating high here in 89.3 Killerbee Cagayan de Oro's Weekly Indie Top 20 countdown. By leaps and bounds, I am thoroughly pleased with what the song has able to do for us and I am thankful that a lot of people has learned to love the song. I'm thinking of releasing a new single soon as soon as we are done deliberating on what song to release. I believe that Runaway Angel still hasn't scratched the surface for us yet as there are other songs in the album that could still give Runaway Angel a run for it's money.

So for the meantime, I'm asking all of you to help us get our songs through. Help us be able to inspire people in our own little ways thru our song Runaway Angel by voting for it at www.nu107fm.com You'll need to register first and then you can start voting. Once you have registered, you can start creating profile and add friends just like the way Friendster work. So it's a great opportunity to join an online community of Rock music fans.  

You can add our profile at http://thoughtsandnotions.nu107fm.com/

See you there!

We've been officially nominated in the 2009 NU 107 Rock Awards for the URock College band of the year. Please visit www.nu107fm.com to register and vote. Please do vote for us and support us as we push to promote positive Inspirational Rock music as a whole.

Dekalsada Bar

Start:	Aug 21, '09 8:00p
Location:	Dekalsada Resto Bar, Don A. Velez Dolores st. Cagayan de Oro City

acoustic set

Dekalsada Resto Bar Grand Opening

Start:	Aug 14, '09 8:00p
Location:	Dekalsada Resto Bar, Don A. Velez Dolores st. Cagayan de Oro City

Acoustic Set

Tatak Environmentalist Launch

Start:	Aug 22, '09 7:00p
Location:	OIC Parking Lot

Tatak Environmentalist, One Shirt... One Tree Project... With Performances by Thoughts And Notions, Nobelista Pasta, Tabularaza, Amplified, and a whole lot more

To our friends based in Manila. We hope you could help us get our song to be played more often at 105.9 RJ Underground Radio by voting/requesting for it. It recently has been included as part of the station's regular playlist and is open for requests and votes. You can vote for our song Runaway Angel at this website http://www.odysseylive.net/rjvoting.php

Album Launch Highlights

Thoughts And Notions successfully launches their New Album

 

Cagayan de Oro based Inspirational Rock Band Thoughts And Notions successfully launched their self-titled sophomore album in an intimate but packed audience at Daru Bar last July 15, 2009. A buffet style dinner was served to the public before the show officially started. The event was no less participated by two of Cagayan de Oro's biggest bands to date, the Bis-Rock band Southrace, and the legendary CDO band Tabularaza. Southrace officially kickstarted the event by playing a repertoire of alternative rock covers as well as cuts from their albums including the chart topping new song Alone Tonight for their upcoming new album. Tabularaza followed by playing all original songs from their upcoming new album. Iking Ranises, Tabularaza's vocalist and main man, also gave out an impassioned speech about the plight of the Independent bands in the city who wishes to continue creating all original songs and hopes to find venues for bands such as them to be able to play their songs to a live audience. It is a very well known plight of the underground Indie music scene in our city to find venues and supporters to help them keep their music alive. He also exhorted for all to stop music piracy most especially the albums concerning the local CDO bands, that instead of ripping or burning the albums, people should instead buy the original as a sign of support not only to the concerned CDO artists, but also to the entire CDO music scene as a whole.         

 

Thoughts And Notions formally opened their set a few minutes past 10pm, with the band's founder and main lyricist Jasper Lloyd Tan sharing a brief band history and saying a round of thank yous to all of those who supported them since the beginning, including two local outlets, Musicvision and Coffeeworks, who partnered with them in this new album by making it available for sale to the general public. The band opened their set by playing songs from their first album "In Awe of His Amazing Love" followed by songs from their new album. The evening turned into an impromptu mini-concert as the band played a host of cover songs in honor of their musical heroes including songs by the now defunct Drizzle, one of Cagayan de Oro's more successful bands who were able to bring their music in Metro Manila's consciousness. The band ended the evening by playing their hit song Runaway Angel, the carrier single of their new album which has been consistently climbing up the charts in the 89.3 Killerbee Indie top 20 countdown. This song is also in heavy rotation in two of Metro Manila's Radio Stations, NU 107 and RJ 105.9 Underground Radio. For a sampling of the song, you can visit their official website at www.thoughtsandnotions.multiply.com

Overall, it was one great night and an album launching like no any other. As expected, Thoughts And Notions' new album is something to look forward to, judging by the audience participation of their songs that evening. We went home that evening with a smile on our face after one rocking evening not only with our stomach full, but also with a renewed spirit. You can email the band at totsandnotions@yahoo.com for queries and infos about them.

 

Letting Go, Moving On

I've never felt so good watching my band play up onstage. The album launch that happened last night is one scenic event I will surely want to remember. We have never prepared something as big as that before. Credit goes to Thrina and the rest of the band who made great strides and effort make the Album launch happen. I know that it was not easy for them to come up with the program and at the same time be holed up in the studio for the past few days practicing for their set. I learned that they even spent the wee hours of the evening in the last two days prior to the album launch practicing. As I've made mentioned in my Facebook blog entry, this might very well be my last gig with the band before I leave them temporarily to take care of other personal stuffs. It was a very fruitful 5 year run. And I will always be thankful for those who believed and supported us every step of the way. During the whole set of the band, I was standing and watching them intently from afar with my arms crossed, enjoying every moment, every sound, each music that flowed through the entire evening. I didn't even had to keep myself busy because usually I do the photography stuffs in our gigs so that I could update our site. But tonight, I purposedly chose to concentrate on just watching the band's performance. I wanted to savor it all before I start missing them soon. And as I intently watched them, I could not help but ponder and recollect on the road that we took to reach whatever standing that we now have. The growth that we have achieved in all those years of perseverance and unwavering faith.

Thrina (vocalist/guitars) grew with the band. There is no perfect personification of the band's growth without Thrina in mind. We started our music when she was still as young as 15 years old. Now, she's on the brink of graduating the academic life and preparing herself to face the world out there. All those years I've been egging her to start learning to play the guitars, last night, she finally donned her guitar and was strumming like there was no tomorrow. She totally blew the house down bantering with the audience. She owned or rather through her, the band fittingly owned the evening. If there was a right image that I would want to remember her with the band, her performance that night was definitely it. But music wasn't the only thing that I tried to impart to her, along the way, I've also imparted tons of life's learnings to her as well. Some that could be of use to her, some she could improve on.

Adonis (drummer) was the other longer serving member of the band. His knack for songwriting is what rejuvenated our band to accomplish the new album. Sure I could write the lyrics and Wilbert could still provide the music, but the youthful sound that Adonis is creating brings new dimensions to the band. I was able to recruit him to the band when our original drummer went down with an appendicitis and had to leave the band for health reasons. But even long before he joined our band, he has already been writing songs with his church. But getting him with us, I would like to believe that he also has learned quite a few tricks under the direction of Wilbert's songwriting while I try to help out in lyric writing tips. But for me, the greatest gift that I have ever imparted to him is the Job that he currently holds in a prestigious company. This is beyond music.

Erickson (lead guitarist) on the other hand was Adonis' personal recommendation when we lost our original guitarist. I could remember that at first it felt awkward for him fitting in with the band when he was the new guy around. He brought his own style just when the band was playing under Wilbert's shadow. And he brought himself up to improve his craft, plus under the guiding influence of Wilbert, his improvements makes him worthy as Wilbert's successor. His guitar works on the band's songs are also valuable. If this aren't impressive enough, I don't know what are. But this actually does not impress me as much as I'm impressed with his level of faith. You can never take this guy away from his Church's music ministry commitments. With that, I take a bow.

Doris (bassist/backing vocals) is the latest addition of the band. But even if she just recently joined us, her whole time with the band is as if she was there from the beginning all along. She provides the tie that binds them all. Coming in, she gives the band balance. I've been long looking for another female member for the band. And my eyes had always been set on Doris since before. There is a lot of music in her. A lot of songs in her that I believe the band has yet to cultivate. The future of the band's songwriting department surely belongs to her. It is just so sad that I won't be able to stay with the band for her for a longer period of time. But I trust the other members of the band to be there for her.

It is hard to let go of such a beautiful thing. But sometimes we need to move on in order for a certain group or a certain team to grow. I know the last time I left an organization, things got messy. I wasn't able to train the successors quite well on how to combat opposition. But Thoughts And Notions will be different. I could feel it. I can trust them. You build something from scratch and you nurture them. But at the same time you don't do it by yourself. You do it as a team. Thrina has been the constant, as do Wilbert is, albeit in spirit.

I guess it's time for me to move on. Other things need my utmost attention. Is this a goodbye? Hardly. I know one of these days our paths would cross again. And I still have unfinished business to attend to. For now, geographically, we will be apart. But I always believed in long distance relationships. I might no longer be physically present in their gigs, activities, practices, meetings, and all. But in spirit, I will always remain.

Thoughts And Notions, until the next gig that I'm "physically" present!
See you, Good Luck and God Bless!

Thoughts And Notions Album Launch at Daru Folk Bar

The night was a complete blast. We served food and beverages. Great performances by guest bands Southrace and Tabularaza. One whole set from our band including cover versions of songs by another CDO band Drizzle as we give honor to them. The album we brought sold out. We are very thankful to those who joined us as we celebrated this momentous event.

Album Launch/Giving Back

I'm all pumped up and excited for our band's Album Launching this coming July 15, 2009 at Daru Bar, Buena Oro, Cagayan de oro City. I think we have never organized something like this in this kind of magnitude before. And personally, I see it as a great opportunity for me to finally give back to all of those who have supported our music all these years. This ain't just your any ordinary album launching. We are preparing this with all our hearts, sweat, and tears. We are coming up with a program that not only would entertain you with our music, but also with guest participations of two of Cagayan de Oro's biggest bands to date, Tabularaza and Southrace. We would also serve food and beverages free of charge to our guests. All you need to do is to buy a copy of our album at Musicvision or at Coffeeworks and present it at the entrance of the venue for easy access. We guarantee you that everyone will be having a blast on this particular night as we've prepared as much as 30 songs for the entire evening. We really do hope to see you there. This is our way of thanking all of you guys for giving your support and inspiring us to continue writing the kind of songs that Thoughts And Notions have been known for.

With that said, it's time for me to post my personal sentiments. This event could very well be my last public appearance with the band. With the wedding preparations coming in full swing, I guess it's time for me to finally lay low and allow the band to grow without my guiding influence. This July 15 event is a very important event for me. There's too much words, or definitions to call this event. Album Launch, Post Birthday celebration (Thrina and Me share the same bdays on July 13), and Thanksgiving party. But for me, it's simply my farewell party. In the coming months, my focus would be my upcoming Wedding. There's too much things to be done, tasks to accomplish, and not to mention adjustments to be made. And after the Wedding? I guess i'll be making major adjustments that would leave me no spare time to do some things that I used to do. For the past 5 years of my life, my band and my music has been the most significant thing that ever happened to me. I've nurtured it and built it from scratch to achieve whatever achievements that we were able to accomplish. Of course we may not have reached the level of popularity that other bands have accomplished by appearing in national TVs, Wowowees, the SOPs, ASAPs and all or even embarking on a nationwide tour. But for what we are, a Christian Band, the Christian Music scene has been a work in progress. And I would like to believe that we did our part in pushing for the Christian Music scene to be accepted in the mainstream market.

I believe my work with the band and the vision that I seek to achieve with our music is far from being done. There are still some things that I should be working on. A lot of projects that would link me up with other Pinoy Christian bands as we try to push forward the Christian music scene in our country together. Contracts to be signed for our new album's national release (which I should have been working on because the Record Company who is interested to distribute our album is only waiting for me). In other words, the 5 years of constantly immersing myself in the music industry has left me with so many doors and opportunities to pursue. And it might all come to a pause. True, there are times that I question myself if all of these has just been a waste of time. And I believe that this is true if we would base our answers on the financial rewards. But if we would base our answers on the countless of emails that I received from all over the country from people that I haven't met, telling us that our songs has touched them and inspired them in some way, I could say that this has been a worthwhile experience. Throughout the whole time that I was with the band. I never held any money. Whatever money I received, I gave it back to the band. If this was purely a business thing, then I would have closed shop years ago. The least that I would want to happen is that our earnings would be able to pay the band expenses. That is something that I really hope and pray for in order for the band to survive. Specially now that I would be detached from the band.

But enough of that. Before we start dwelling on the future, let us take this moment to enjoy the upcoming July 15 event. I rarely go up the stage to share our story, but for this event, I'm willing to give it one last shot. This could very well be my swan song. What the future holds for the band without me, that I don't know. But I would like to believe that I was able to instill in Thrina, Doris, Erickson, and Adonis all of the characteristics that Thoughts And Notions should have. What traits that they should posses in order for them to achieve the band's mission and vision. And as always, I take a bow at our one true band manager, our savior Jesus Christ. He will take this band even further than where I took them if he so wills it.

Come July 15, 2009 at Daru Bar, Buena Oro, Cagayan de Oro City, we are giving back the love and support that you guys have give us. We truly hope to see you there.

P.S.
My run with Thoughts And Notions consists of 2 albums containing a grand total of 22 songs. The track listing and songwriting credits of the songs are as follows:

In Awe of His Amazing Love (Released in 2005 Independently, In 2006 with Praise Music)

1. My Love Song (Jasper Tan, Wilbert Tan)
2.Savior (Jasper Tan, Wilbert Tan)
3.Earthbound Angel (Jasper Tan, Wilbert Tan)
4.A Love So Real (Jasper Tan, Wilbert Tan)
5.Strength I Need (Jasper Tan, Wilbert Tan)
6.Healer (Jasper Tan, Wilbert Tan)
7.Repentance (Jasper Tan, Wilbert Tan)
8.Defender (Jasper Tan, Wilbert Tan)
9.Brand New Day (Jasper Tan, Wilbert Tan)
10.My Journey Ends (Jasper Tan, Wilbert Tan, Thrina Dimaano)

Thoughts And Notions (Self-titled sophomore album, Released in 2009 Independently, Nationwide Release-Upcoming)

1.Arise (Jasper Tan, Adonis Berongoy)
2.Runaway Angel (Jasper Tan, Wilbert Tan)
3.When (Jasper Tan, Wilbert Tan)
4.Cloudy Day (Adonis Berongoy, Erickson Gloria)
5.Like A Child (Jasper Tan, Wilbert Tan)
6.Beloved Savior (Adonis Berongoy)
7.A Promise (Wilbert Tan)
8.Safer In My Heart (Jasper Tan, Adonis Berongoy)
9.Like Heaven (Jasper Tan, Wilbert Tan)
10.Stronger, Higher, Further (Jasper Tan, Thoughts And Notions)
11.Pagsapit ng Panahon (Jasper Tan, Wilbert Tan)
12.Kevin Sardines Theme (Adonis Berongoy)

The Long Fall Back To Earth

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Music
Genre:	Alternative Rock
Artist:	Jars of Clay

I've never heard a really good Jars of Clay album for quite sometime already. So I guess it's just about time that their latest release "The Long Fall Back To Earth" has put them back on it's musical excellence. The band has always been experimental in their songs, dabbling from Pop, Rock, Folk, Alternative, you name it they have it. In fact their previous release the critically acclaimed "Good Monsters" album, sounded so "unJars of Clay" like that I found a hard time digesting the tracks. Took me a couple more spins before I get acquainted to the new sound that the band is trying to come up with. But for this album, every single track sounds so good that I was ecstatic in breaking down the songs track by track. It is evident from the first track that the band has really gone a long long way since their debut album. The songs in this album sounds more fuller. Incorporating a lot of keyboards, drum loops and digital samples, which makes their songs more melodic. I could easily reminisce the synth laden pop songs of the 80's while listening to the songs (very evident of this is the song titled Don't Stop). The carrier single of this album is the song called Two Hands, a very intense song that speaks about breaking free and allowing ourselves to be redeemed from the chains that binds us to distrust. Asking us to cooperate in building a community. One heart, one mind. The song Weapons on the other hand is a very upbeat track that speaks about asking us to lay down our weapons and allow ourselves to be vulnerable and feel genuine relationships that aren't shielded from skepticism. Break down the walls that serves as barriers from the hurts and pains that might come. Because truth to tell, feeling the hurts and pains makes us human in just the same way as feeling love and valued. I think my favorite track in the album is the song called Hero. Some parts of the song reminds me of Coldplay but I couldn't actually put an exact Coldplay stamp on the song since all indications points out to that Jars of Clay stamp on it. Actually it is hard to pinpoint one favorite track in this album filled of musical gems because each track could really stand on their own. No filler tracks. There are enough songs for everyone to enjoy even for those who are looking for the more traditonal acoustic driven Jars of Clay sound. There are some songs that starts with the acoustic guitars before the synth keyboards and electric guitars take over.

I can truthfully say that The Long Fall Back To Earth is the best album that I have ever heard for this year thus far.

Thoughts And Notions will be having an album launching this coming July 15, 2009 7:30pm At Daru Folk Bar, Aluba, Macasandig Cagayan de Oro City. Food and beverages will be served. Present your Thoughts And Notions album as your entrance fee. The album can still be purchased at musicvision and Coffeeworks! See you there!

Thoughts And Notions Album Launch!

Start:	Jul 15, '09 7:30p
Location:	Daru Bar, Buena Oro Subd, Cagayan de Oro City

Thoughts And Notions will be having an album launching this coming July 15, 2009 7:30pm At Daru Bar, Buena Oro Subd, Cagayan de Oro City with guest bands Tabularaza and Southrace. Food and beverages will be served. Present your Thoughts And Notions album as your Entrance Fee. The album can still be purchased at Musicvision and Coffeeworks for only P190! See you there!

Thoughts And Notions article written by Kelly Palaganas-Ramos

"The Mandala of Opposites" by A Painting by Kelly Palaganas-Ramos

Thoughts And Notions: Music review

“Toot-too-too-root-too-too..Jesus is just alright with me…I don’t care what they may do, I don’t care what they may say…”

There have been some pretty great Jesus songs throughout the ages. Especially notable are the Moody Blues song with its simple lyrics and a catchy tune, and Woodie Guthrie’s “Jesus” which tells the Jesus story with the interesting premise about what would happen if He had lived during the times when Guthrie was making his songs (we would still have had him crucified, once he started telling the rich to give to the poor). Add to that list the 2006 Thoughts And Notions song “Savior.” It goes “I am shaken, broken, failing in life’s uncertain ending…Lord Jesus my savior. You came and became my redeemer…I was lost but you saved me…I will live my life for you…forever.” Yes it is an outright worship song, and I am not so actively religious, but it has been my very own Last Song Syndrome (LSS) for about a month now, on and off. I am unabashedly enjoying this song. And yeah, I agree with the Moodys, Jesus is just alright with me.

This and other songs in the Thoughts And Notions debut album is sung by the angelic voice of Cathrina Tan Dimaano and backed up by Wilbert Tan on guitars, bass, drum, and keyboards. Jasper Lloyd Tan serves as lyricist and band manager for this local Cagayan de Oro Christian pop band. The 10 track debut album, entitled In Awe Of His Amazing Love, is amazingly full of original songs about God’s love. The other songs in this album are the singles My Love Song, Earthbound Angel, Brand New Day, and others. The band is strong on lyrics, simply because they have a message to tell. They are not so bad on the music side as well. The tunes are catchy and contemporary, the musical skill of each band member is quite impressive, the sound mixing of the album does not drown out one element of the music in favor of another, and this band seems to have its act together.

So, what’s in a name? It is quite an interesting story to tell. Coincidentally, the original members of this very promising band all had the same surname. They then decided to call their band Thoughts And Notions, which has an acronym that spells it out: T-A-N. For their second album, they were joined by Adonis Berongoy on drums, Doris Bangot on bass, and Erickson Gloria on guitars. The second album was finished in mid 2009. Simply self titled, it is conceptual in its packaging approach. The music is still good, not losing any of the qualities that were present in the first album. Three years after producing that first album, the band was able to come up with 10 new original tracks. The unifying theme is their journey in living out the faith. Runaway Angel is their carrier single, and the other songs are titled Arise, When, Like A Child, The Promise, and others. Cloudy Day is a good one. Some of the songs here can be interpreted as love songs, although all of them are said to share the message of faith in our daily lives. Interesting too are the two bonus tracks. It gives a rare look at the possibilities of this band. The two tracks are the Filipino song Pagsapit Ng Panahon, and the Visayan Kevin Sardines Theme. Pagsapit is actually becoming another favorite of mine. It was said to be an entry in a songwriting contest sponsored by the environmental group Haribon. This song was a sure winner, but the contest did not push through. The Kevin Theme is an advertising jingle for a company that band manager and lyricist Jasper Lloyd Tan’s family owns. The piece, however, deserves its place as a legitimate song. Its quality is too good to be consigned as mere jingle.

The novel idea which was conceptualized for producing and packaging this second album was in keeping with one of the band’s advocacies of keeping the local art scene active. This was done through cross-media collaborations with three local artists who were tapped to come up with three separate designs. All three designs were then used. How? The cd comes in a little brown envelope, not a conventional cd case. Inside the envelope are the means for making your own album cover. It has a sticker, a printed artwork, an alternative cover art, a lyric sheet, and the envelope itself features the hip album design of Jeniffer Aranaydo, otherwise known as Jenipur. The two other visual artists who were asked for designs are Alvin Carreon and me, Kelly Palaganas-Ramos. Yes, it has been my great pleasure to collaborate with this talented up-and-coming pop rock Christian band.

Thoughts And Notions will be having an album launching this coming July 15, 2009 7:30pm At Daru Bar, Aluba, Macasandig Cagayan de Oro City. Food and beverages will be served. Present your Thoughts And Notions album as your entrance fee. The album can still be purchased at musicvision and Coffeeworks! See you there!

For questions, comments, and suggestions please email artnanay@yahoo.com

Where to listen to our songs

We have already released our carrier single from the new album at these selected radio stations nationwide...

Runaway Angel by Thoughts And Notions

Metro Manila

NU 107 under University Rock segment.- I don't know if you could request our songs on other shows but let's give it a try.

105.9 RJ Underground Radio

90.3 Edge Radio Lucena

Cebu City

107.1 DYJF Shofar Radio

Cagayan de Oro

89.3 Killerbee - currently stands at number 17 in indie top 20 countdown. You can help us get the song to the top place by voting for it at this number 09234093882

103.3 The New J

We are still looking for other radio stations to release our single. Hope you guys could support us by voting/requesting our songs in aforementioned radio stations. Thanks and God Bless!

 

Rehab Underground

It was raining hard but it did not deter the bands from playing great music. This is Thrina's debut singing with an acoustic guitar. Set list was Arise (Thoughts And Notions), Your Universe (Rico Blanco), Thinking of You (Katy Perry), Runaway Angel (Thoughts And Notions). We ran into a mishap when the microphone turned off on us mid song for Your Universe. Well these things happen for small productions. No biggie. Check out the blooper below :)

Rehab Underground-Rehabilitating Cagayan de Oro's Music Scene (updated)

Cagayan de Oro's music scene have been quiet for quite sometime. With former gig spots closing down for renovations and the indie production groups still looking for a new home, CDO indie bands are left with no venue to strut their stuffs. The bands had to look for gigs by themselves or lay down their musical instruments for awhile.

Enter Micbox Productions with the help of Cagayan de Oro's most respected indie music figure, Iking Raneses, vocalist and main man of the band Tabularaza. Soundbox Productions is taking the cudgels to round up 10 of Cagayan de Oro's best indie bands for a one night free concert at the Cagayan de Oro Capitol Grounds. Soundbox Productions is not your ordinary indie production group. It's a producton group that aims to uplift Cagayan de Oro's indie music standards and prepare the best indie bands in Cagayan de Oro to experience professional class concert production standards. This is a very ambitious project to unite only the best Indie musicians that Cagayan de Oro has to offer. And it may all start in this event. The production group also aims to start selling the event not because of the freebies that the audience could get, but mostly because of the music. The selling point is the music. Below are the listing of the bands performing and their respective timeslots and websites (if any).

1. Porcelene (7:00-7:30PM) www.myspace.com/porcelene

2. Calypso (7:30-8:00PM)

3. Ice Candy with Polvoron (8:00-8:30PM)

4. S.C.P (8:30-9:00 PM)

5. K9 (9:00-9:30 PM) http://k9banda.multiply.com/

6. Tabularaza (9:30-10:00 PM) www.tabularazaband.com, www.purevolume.com/tabularaza  

7. Twin Chicken (10:00-10:30 PM)

8. Swerve (10:30-11:00 PM) http://www.purevolume.com/swervemusic

9. Thoughts And Notions (11:00-11:30 PM) www.thoughtsandnotions.multiply.com, www.myspace.com/thoughtsandnotions     

10. Dahong Palay (11:30-12:00 MN) http://www.filipinomusica.com/dahong-palay.html

Band albums, stuffs, and other merchandise available at the show. Admission is absolutely free!

Thoughts And Notions concert at FCCY Regional Sportsfest

This is a back to back concert with our church's music ministry for the FCCY Regional Sportsfest where FCCYers from Iligan, Ozamiz, Davao, and Cagayan de Oro participated. It was a great honor for us to be invited to take part in this event. We played a 10 song set including 2 songs from the first album and a cover of Hillsong's One Way. Photos courtesy of Johnboy Alaba.