As part of an ongoing partnership with the Rights Workshop, Avantgarde co-hosted a special solo performance and talk with Stephin Merritt at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. He performed three songs including Book of Love on his Ukulele and then Brooke Wentz, the Rights Workshop, interviewed Stephin and his manager Claudia Gonson and then moderated an audience Q/A.

Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields have just released Realism on Nonesuch records and are touring the West Coast.