Jake Slack on clubs

For the latest ear-splitting experience, head for the Arches in Southwark Street, London. The venue made a name for itself a couple of years ago by hosting the best of acid jazz nights, No Room for Squares, and now plays host each month to Lost. Like the former, Lost is a clubbers' club, a place to go at 3am after your warm-up venue has closed, but unlike NRFS, Lost is about techno. Techno with knobs on. Guesting on Saturday 30 March, were Detroit's Robert Hood and Austria's Patrick Pulsinger. It was a nice pairing: Hood spends much of his time in Europe, and he and Pulsinger have worked together on several vinyl collaborations. The Austrian treated us to techno with jazz samples, techno with break beats and techno with bubbles, whatever that was.

You could not get much further from the grunginess of the Arches than the high design of Complex, north London's answer to the Ministry of Sound. Just opposite the Angel tube station, Complex occupies four floors, each with a different design theme. The club boasts several excellent sound systems as well as the obligatory Sony Playstations, and the organisers promise that teething problems with the cloakroom and the lighting have been sorted out. Tomorrow night, Complex is offering a trip-hop and house combo, with Athletico providing the former and a quartet of international DJs providing the latter. One of the first people to DJ from three decks and to use two-deck phasing, Marshall Jefferson's set is bound to be memorable. If you want still more techno, check out their "Voyager" nights on Fridays.

Lost, Southwark St, London (0171-791 0402), next night 27 Apr; Complex, 5 Parkfield St, London(0171-428 9797) every night