Cleaners From Venus documentary ‘The Jangling Man’ screening in NYC & LA (watch the trailer)

Martin Newell has been making wonderful pop music since the late '70s, mostly on his own with a four-track recorder and mostly under the banner of The Cleaners from Venus. He's a bit like a Britpop Robert Pollard; songs and albums pour out of him at an astounding rate and while the fidelity is often low, the hit factor is high. There have been attempts to bring his music to a wider audience -- XTC's Andy Partridge produced Newell's 1993 album The Greatest Living Englishman -- but mostly he seems happy to exist at the fringes, and has gained quite a cult following along the way.

Jangling Man, James Sharp's documentary about Newell, has been in the works for a while and features rare footage and new interviews with Newell as well former members of the band and many of his admirers that include Mac Demarco, The Charlatans' Tim Burgess, BBC DJ Steve Lamacq, XTC's Dave Gregory, DIIV's Zachary Cole Smith, Kimberley Rew (Soft Boys, Katrina & The Waves), Wild Nothing's Jack Tatum, R. Stevie Moore, and more.