Hind sight

THE UNHOLY GRAIL of gay sex rags has to be Straight to Hell, a photocopied-and-stapled proto-zine sporadically published during the '70s and '80s and briefly revived in the '90s. Decorated with hot pics from amateur porn studios such as AMG and Old Reliable, it took the Penthouse Forum sex-story formula into territory that was funny, often literary (a number of poets and novelists are rumored to have contributed), and always extremely raunchy. In comparison, most contemporary gay smut mags read like robot libido manuals, though there's one exception: Butt. Based in Amsterdam, publishers Gert Jonkers and Jop van Bennekom are aiming for a hybrid of STH and the early years of Andy Warhol's Interview, and if they don't quite reach those dirty lows and arty heights, at least they have good bad taste. Printed on pink paper, Butt matches long Q&As with softcore and occasional hard-and-erect portraits of its international range of interview subjects, which have included local boys Matmos and Matt Bernstein Sycamore. The future is uncertain: recent issues have showcased stiff characters of a different variety (Stephin Merritt and Michael Stipe, both dressed), but at the same time Butt's edges have gotten dirtier. Prinsengracht 397, 1016 HL Amsterdam, the Netherlands. www.buttmagazine.com.

Johnny Ray Huston