Edwyn Collins + The Kinbeats

It’s a near miracle that Edwyn Collins is performing in the U.S. in 2011, much less in support of an album as confident as last year’s Losing Sleep (due for domestic release Mar 31 on Downtown). As cofounder of Glasgow’s Orange Juice in the 1980s, Collins practically invented one strain of indie pop, combining tricky chords and funky playing with witty, antimacho lyrics. In February 2005 Collins suffered two serious strokes, resulting in neurological damage that affected his motor and language skills. Collins’s recovery is ongoing—he can fret, though not strum, a guitar—but his return to live singing in 2009 stunned doctors, and thrilled fans.