The Hardest Butts To Button!

What do the following musicians have in common: Jake Shears (Scissor Sisters), Michael Stipe (R.E.M.), Casey Spooner (Fischerspooner), Joel Gibb (Hidden Cameras), Stephin Merritt, Rufus Wainwright, Jonsi Thor Birgisson (Sigur Ros) & Ed Droste (Grizzly Bear)? Well, if you guessed openly queer, that would be correct but the actual answer that I was looking for today is that all of the men I just mentioned are featured in the newly released, Best Of The First 5 Years Of Butt Magazine.

For those unfamiliar with Butt, I'll let Amazon tell the story: Since its first legendary issue in 2001, international quarterly magazine BUTT has been bringing together groups of young alternative gay guys all around the world, connecting fashion, sex, and art with a good sense of irony. Put together by the magazine’s founding editors Jop van Bennekom and Gert Jonkers in collaboration with photographer Wolfgang Tillmans, this book is a 'best of' compilation of the first 17 issues of BUTT, full of interviews with famous personalities and photographs by the likes of Terry Richardson, Inez van Lamsweerde, and Wolfgang Tillmans as well as unknown talent. Collectors of the magazine who have been desperately searching for rare back issues will be able to round out their collections with this compendium, which will also be a delight for those who haven’t yet discovered the joy of BUTT.

Even more info available here, including another photo or two. This best-of features extremely informal and irreverent interviews with topics ranging from bars to best pick-up lines, to, yup, you guessed it, butts! A truly great read if you don't mind the superfluous crotch shots. For all the Jake lovers, there's quite the revealing photo shoot involving a bed and a jockstrap that I'm sure you won't wanna miss!

Purchase Butt here!!

MP3s: Rufus Wainwright - Foolish Love & Fischerspooner - Emerge & REM - Radio Free Europe