The latest band to be featured in our Tailored In Manchester series, 1913 form part of the north west’s musical lineage. Following in the footsteps of bands such as Joy Division and Doves, the band write massive, melancholic-yet-uplifting anthems, created in Manchester with one eye on the nation’s stadiums.

The band, formed from the ashes of two defunct local groups, unearthed a fierce musical chemistry over a series of informal practices. Realising that they had something to offer, the band settled down to write a clutch of tracks to match their stadium-sized ambition.

The results are what 1913 themselves term ‘death pop’. That translates into a dark, atmospheric sound, following in the footsteps of those classic bands alongside modern acts such as Editors and White Lies. Brooding, introspective, but ultimately embracing and communal.

With their single ‘Atlantis’ ready for release, 1913 performed at the launch of our Dale Street screenings last month. Before they took to the stage, we sat them down for a quick chat about where they’re coming from, where they’re heading, and where they got that name from. Check out the special video filmed exclusively for Umbro here:

To find out more about the band’s releases and tour dates, take a look at their Myspace page here.

It’s that time again where we shine a light on the finest musical minds here in Manchester, and for the first time we’ve got a solo artist: Magic Arm. Not that you’d know it from listening to his music, as the tracks created by Magic Arm sound like the work of a bunch of symphonic mischief makers.

Known to his mum as plain old Marc Rigelsford, Magic Arm moved to Manchester to study photography, but has ended up establishing himself as one of the city’s most imaginative musicians. Mixing the cut and paste techniques of Beck or The Beta Band with a delightfully sunny, psychedelic outlook, Marc aims to make straightforward pop songs – they just never come out that way. His debut album Make Lists Do Something puts the Magic Arm spin on all manner of musical styles, from old blues standards to an inspired cover of LCD Soundsystem’s ‘Daft Punk Is Playing At My House’.

Having now recruited a live band to help him bring these songs to life on stage, Magic Arm (once described as the “master of the loop pedal”) has spent the last year establishing himself as one of Manchester’s most exciting artists, supporting the likes of Beirut, Grizzly Bear and Camera Obscura in the process. You can check out his musical moves in the video below and see for yourself why so many people are talking about Magic Arm. Want to find out more? Head over to his website here, take a look at his MySpace and follow his record label Switchflicker on Twitter here for the latest news on what he’s up to.

For information on all of Umbro’s Tailored In Manchester bands, take a look at Umbro.com

It’s time to unveil our latest Tailored In Manchester band, and it’s fair to say that they’re the craziest gang we’ve had yet. The Real Dolls describe themselves as a party band, and that’s a pretty accurate description of the day-glo hip-hop pop explosion they create, but it doesn’t really do justice to the energy and enthusiasm they put into their live shows.

All the members of The Real Dolls have played in other bands around Manchester, and have come together to create something genuinely collaborative. A mix of beat makers, producers, dancers and conventional songwriters, they create a real mish-mash of styles and sounds, making them one of the most genuinely innovative bands around Manchester at the moment.

That’s why we invited them down for our Tailored In Manchester project, which is where we showcase the best young artists around our city and give them the chance to tell the world what they’re all about. if you like the look of The Real Dolls, check out the video we’ve made with them below. You can also see more photos from their day at Dale Street over on our Flickr page. Want to hear more? Then head to their website here, follow them on Twitter, or listen to their MySpace, where you’ll find some of their tunes and information on where you can see them live. Trust us, they’re worth seeing!

As part of our commitment to highlighting the best that Manchester has to offer, Umbro has regularly picked out our favourite bands from the area and given them a platform to show off their music and tell you a little about themselves. With that in mind, we’re pretty chuffed that two of the bands we’ve picked out have been up to some pretty cool stuff: first of all The Heartbreaks, a bunch of sharply-dressed mod-rock types who modelled our House Of Fraser range for us.

Having toured all over the UK over recent months, featured on Steve Lamacq’s 6Music show and been tipped for success from all quarters, The Heartbreaks have just released a single, ‘Liar, My Dear’. To celebrate, they recently played a gig here in Manchester at The Ruby Lounge, and up in Lancaster at Yorkshire House. Some of Umbro’s team headed up to watch them play at the weekend (capturing the photo at the top of the page) and were very impressed with what they heard.

The band have also made a great video for the new single, which you can check out here:

‘Liar, My Dear’ – The Heartbreaks from Tambourine Management on Vimeo.

Also getting in on the video act are another band that we’ve mentioned previously, Ten Bears. The Manchester indie five-piece were the first band to be picked out for our Tailored In Manchester feature last year, in which we invite the best local acts down to our studio to talk about what makes them tick. Since then, the band have been going from strength to strength, and are set to release their new single ‘Braces’ on April 19th. As you can see in the video below, the band have certainly pulled out all the stops for this single, they must enjoy getting covered in paint!

Here’s Ten Bears’ Tailored In Manchester video in case you haven’t seen it:

Be sure to check out the other Tailored In Manchester videos while you’re at it – Orphan Boy, Young British Artists and Run Toto Run have all got plenty planned for 2010, so it’s the ideal time to find out all about them.

The latest band we’re featuring in our Tailored In Manchester series are electro-pop trio Run Toto Run, a group that are getting some serious attention on the back of the couple of singles they’ve put out so far. In their short time together, Run Toto Run have already been played on every radio station you can think of, and were the toast of the music blogs for their inspired cover of Passion Pit’s ‘Sleepyhead’. It’s fair to say then that they’re one of our top tips for 2010. In the video above you can check out our interview with them, interspersed with clips from their latest mind-bending video for their single Catch Your Breath. They’ve certainly got vivid imaginations…

If you want to hear more from Run Toto Run, check out Umbro.com or the band’s own website. We’ve also got a whole set of pictures from the band’s visit to Dale Street over on Flickr for you to check out.

For the latest instalment of Tailored In Manchester – where Umbro invites the best upcoming bands to check out what we’re up to down at our Dale Street studio – we’re introducing a group who aren’t actually from Manchester. However, punkish trio Orphan Boy have been adopted by the city since they moved from Grimsby, and you can certainly hear Manchester’s musical past reflected in their atmospheric, grimey ‘council-pop’ (their description). You can learn more about the band in the video below, in which two members of the band talk about what makes Orphan Boy who they are, or click the link here to hear more of their music – Some Frontier in particular is a cracking track.