Juliana Hatfield, my first college-radio crush (read more here), is out with her 12th studio album, an all-cover songs set. It’s the musical equivalent of a double rainbow.

Hatfield funded the album through a PledgeMusic campaign launched in March, reaching her goal within two days and ultimately surpassing it by 224% though she didn’t get nearly the press Amanda Palmer did. (Hatfield also designated 10% of her post-target proceeds for charity.) The resulting self-titled LP is a wide-ranging affair, with the singer-songwriter tackling source material from an eclectic bunch of artists, including Foo Fighters, I Blame Coco, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Liz Phair, Led Zeppelin, and others.

There really isn’t a bum number in the twelve tracks that comprise Juliana Hatfield. While the album’s been out for nearly a month, it was only yesterday that I gave it my undivided attention. With Hatfield in my ears and a cup of coffee in my hand, it was one of the best late afternoons I’ve enjoyed in quite some time.

For her part, the lowercase-loving, grammar-averse Hatfield says, “i had a really good time making the album and i love the final result and i am proud to have put my name on it.” My favorite tracks on Juliana Hatfield are her covers of songs already familiar to me (Foo Fighters, Pete Yorn, Liz Phair) and others less so (I Blame Coco, Electric Light Orchestra, Ryan Adams).

I’d like to spotlight Hatfield’s take on I Blame Coco’s “Selfmachine,” co-written by Coco Sumner (Sting’s daughter) and Klas Åhlund (Robyn, Britney Spears, Madonna), but since I can’t locate a stream of it — or any track on Juliana Hatfield, actually — check out 90-second samples of all of the album’s tracks via an iTunes playlist:

Here’s the tracklisting for Juliana Hatfield:
01 “Cells” [Teenage Fanclub]
02 “Learn To Fly” [Foo Fighters]
03 “Bad Moon Rising” [Creedence Clearwater Revival]
04 “Ready For Love” [Bad Company]
05 “Selfmachine” [I Blame Coco]
06 “Fruit Fly” [Nada Surf]
07 “Closet” [Pete Yorn]
08 “Sweet Is The Night” [Electric Light Orchestra]
09 “Do I Wait” [Ryan Adams]
10 “Friend Of Mine” [Liz Phair]
11 “My Wife” [The Who]
12 “Rock And Roll” [Led Zeppelin]

Hatfield’s cover of “Friend Of Mine,” from Liz Phair’s 2003 eponymous pop effort, earned high praise from the former indie queen:

@phizlair so glad you don’t hate it! thanks!

— Juliana Hatfield (@julianahatfield) August 11, 2012

Hatfield will hit the road next month as part of The Lemonheads (she was a full-time member of the band during the recording of 1992’s It’s A Shame About Ray). She will also participate in a new Lemonheads album, joining Evan Dando alongside another original member, Ben Deily, who left after 1990’s Lick. Ryan Adams is pulling double-duty as producer and drummer.

Purchase Juliana Hatfield – Juliana Hatfield via iTunes, Amazon MP3.