Girl Talk, the jet-setting Pittsburgh laptop artist who rocks parties all over the world, dropped his new album yesterday by surprise on his label's Web site, www.illegalart.net.

In advance of the LP and CD, due in September, Girl Talk (aka Gregg Gillis) issued "Feed the Animals" as a pay-as-you-please download, a la Radiohead.

The follow-up to his breakthrough album, "Night Ripper" -- which made critics' best-record lists in Rolling Stone, Spin and Pitchfork, among others -- "Feed the Animals" packs more than 300 samples into its 14-track, 55-minute run time. Illegal Art's description of it as "his most heavy-hitting, party-centric album yet" is spot-on.

On first listen, it's even more seamless than "Night Ripper." It's a staggeringly clever blend of pop, hip-hop and classic rock, starting with "Play Your Part Pt I," a track that mashes up the Spencer Davis Group's "Gimme Some Lovin'" with UGK's "International Players," before tripping out on The Who, Twisted Sister and UNK, and blending T.I. with Sinead.

You can get the Mp3s for any price you want. For $5 or more, you get the Mp3s plus the album as one long track, which is how Girl Talk intended for it to be heard. For $10 or more, you get all of the above plus a packaged CD when it's available in September.

"It's been two years in the works, so it's a huge relief to be done and have it out," Gillis said yesterday. "It was a complete last-minute rush to get up by [Thursday] morning. Illegal Art was coding the Web site all night, and I was listening over the final Mp3s at 5 a.m. It felt like cramming all night for a test. The response so far has been great, and I'm looking forward to see how far this one spreads."

Fans can get ready to crash the stage again on Thursday when Girl Talk begins his new tour, which will include stops at Lollapalooza in Chicago and the All Points West festival in New Jersey.

First Published: June 20, 2008, 4:00 a.m.