Young Offenders' Institute - August

The rather superb Young Offenders' Institute is a London nightclub that meets every last friday of the month, so that people can play round-robin table tennis tournaments (winner gets a beer) and listen to some of the finest DJs London has to offer. Okay, that last bit's not true, but speaking as one of those DJs, I have to say we do try very hard indeed. I've been known to plan my set up to two days in advance. Now that's professionalism. But it's not really the DJs that the assembled throng (should that be pong?) are interested in. It's the tunes they play.

Will Communication and his twin Dan set up YOI, and I remember their musical guidance to the DJs when YOI was set up, about a year ago - "as long as it's got some bounce". So with that detailed plan of action before us, I've endeavoured to oblige. You can judge for yourself, preferably by coming down next time (September 26th). To give you a taste in the meantime, here are the records that came out the bag last Friday, though not necessarily in this order.

Mountain - Never In My Life
Ladyhawke - Paris S'enflamme (the French language version of her hit, Paris Is Burning)
The Cool Kids - 88
Queens Of The Stone Age - No One Knows
MGMT - Electric Feel (Justice Remix)
Jimmy "Bo" Horne - Spank
Wings - Old Siam, Sir
Beastie Boys - Brass Monkey
Neon Neon - Dream Cars
M.I.A. - Paper Planes
Bloc Party - Mercury
Sharon Cash - Fever
LCD Soundsystem - North American Scum
The Raconteurs - Consoler Of The Lonely
The Commodores - Machine Gun

As the emphasis at YOI (the USP, if you will) is on the ping pong, and people are pretty transfixed by that (don't believe me? come and see for yourself), not a great deal of dancing goes on (though feel free to bust a move if the mood takes you), so I can't really say what the crowd enjoyed most (if anything!), but I particularly enjoyed playing Ladyhawke, Raconteurs and M.I.A. On the other hand, Bloc Party's Mercury is an awesome track, but just seemed too spiky and out of place, so I won't get that out again in public in a hurry.

YOI is on Columbia Road, London, E2, at the Fleapit. Details here: http://www.theyoi.co.uk/.