By Nigel Hunt

LONDON (Reuters) - Canada's Martin Reader enjoyed the music but failed to hit a winning note as his pairing with Joshua Binstock lost to Norway's Tarjei Skarlund and Martin Spinnangr in the Olympic men's beach volleyball tournament on Monday.

"It's not as hot as other venues, but it's the best by far. The music choice and sound system are great," he said, following a 2-0 (21-14, 21-18) loss to the Norwegians in Pool F at a cool but sunny Horse Guards Parade.

"I love the electronic music they play here and they tend to jam on court and we take energy from that as well," he added.

Music from Robbie Williams to the Beach Boys is blared out by loudspeakers during the matches with only brief interludes while points are contested. Even the team which rakes the sand try to keep in time with the beat.

The Canadians defeated Britain's Steven Grotowski and John Garcia-Thompson in their first match while the Norwegians lost to Brazilian pairing of Pedro Henrique Cunha and Ricardo Santos.

The British pair face the Brazilians later on Monday.

"We are now on fire. All the nerves of the first game have gone," Skarlund told reporters.

Latvia's flamboyant Aleksandrs Samoilovs, known as the Lion King because of his wild mane of hair, and his partner Ruslans Sorokins reached the knockout stage of the tournament with a 2-0 (21-16, 21-10) victory against South Africa in Pool D.

The Latvians narrowly defeated a Polish pair in their opener and now appear to be gathering momentum.

"It was much better than in the previous match against Poland. That had too much emotion and stress," Samoilovs told reporters.

South Africa's Freedom Chiya and Grant Goldschmidt were philosophical in defeat.

"We are here and that's good. You have to lose sometimes and you just have to take it," Goldschmidt said.

(Reporting by Nigel Hunt)