These 10 tracks share a seamless rhythmic undercurrent, as DJ Jay Ell adds and subtracts a wide variety of ear-catching sounds over throbbing beats -- just like he’s adding ingredients to a pizza pie. Unless you’re watching the track counter on your disc player closely, you won’t have any idea when one track finishes and another one begins. Ell’s work here is silky smooth, like a master pickpocket making his impact unnoticed.

The insistent rhythms applied throughout have a distinctly European vibe, much like a funkier and warmer Kraftwerk. The music drives like a non-stop assembly line, and songs are built piece by piece, from the ground up. Porter Steve’s "Innerpulse" sails eerie keyboard lines over this movable feast, while "Minders" reaches for bass-y twang squawks and a subtle midrange melody. "Fluid Intelligence" by Medway stands out for its staccato spray of machine-gunned keyboard notes, and "Derangement of the Senses" by Voyager is underpinned by percolating beats and intermittent swooshing sounds. Echoed percussive elements -- reminiscent of dub sound effects – also ping-pong back and forth in the mix. Voyager’s music on this recording replicates feelings of mental disorientation, as when clear thinking is just out of cognitive grasp.

4 A.M. is a straight-up sounds compilation, which relies almost entirely upon technologically created sounds. Vocals of any kind are few and far between, and nothing here can truly be characterized as a song. "Papua New Guinea" by Future Sound Of London drops in a few moments of female vocals, and "Today" by Pop And Taylor features what sounds like sound bites of female spoken French running through it, over a swirling melody and off-kilter blurps. But these are vocals as effects, instead of straightforward singing.

While many of these artists are familiar ones, this disc offers five exclusive tracks, and "Papua New Guinea" by Future Sound Of London is the first place this recording has ever appeared on a CD.

The 4 A.M. Sound Of Progressive Trance may have been created with late night/early morning butt-shaking in mind, but this cutting edge dance music collection sounds great at just about any old time of the day.