Mars Volta Labels Western Media Swine Flu Coverage “Terrorist”

The Mars Volta guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López has spoken out against the negative tone of foreign press against the Mexican outbreak of swine flu. He told NME:

“It’s not the hysteria that the right-wing media are making you think it is. It’s less dangerous than a common cold. This has been a perfect moment for right-wing republican media to say: ‘You see! You see these filthy people? You see what they’re doing? This is very scary!’”

Rodríguez-López thinks that the Mexican economy has been damaged due to the media coverage, and said that “it’s another act of terrorism, it’s another terrorist tactic.” Continue reading...

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Swine Flu Cancels Shows in Mexico, Gets Its Own Song

The Swine Flu outbreak has prompted the Mexican government to issued advisories against all public events in Mexico City and other parts of the country. Live music performances are being postponed in response to schools being closed nationwide until May 6. Ticketmaster’s Mexican web site listed concerts of Alejandro Fernandez, Marco Antonio Solís, Los Lobos and Alejandra Guzman as cancelled, and Mexican acts Los Temerarios, K-Paz de la Sierra and Pancho Barraza have been rescheduled to take place in Anaheim, California.

The repercussions are numerous, but for Stephan Zielinski of San Francisco, California, the Swine Flu has inspired a musical composition. He assigned a different instrument to each of the categories of amino acids that constitute the virus’ genome, and created a melody by giving notes to the individual amino acids. Listen to the track, after the jump...

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